2 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

CIRCULATED THROUGH : TORONTO, MARKHAM, SCARBOROUGH, RICHMOND HILL, VAUGHAN, WOODBRIDGE, ETOBICOKE, NORTH YORK, MALTON, REXDALE, BR AMPTON, MISSISSAUGA, OAKVILLE, HAMILTON, MILTON, STONEY CREEK, BURLINGTON

EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER SUSHMA SWARAJ CALLED ON ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER GIUSEPPE CONTE DURING HER OFFICIALVISIT TO ITALY. SHE CONGRATULATED HIM FOR BEING ELECTED HEAD OF THE GOVERNMENT.

FROM L TO RIGHT: TAJI OBEROI; YUDHVIR JASWAL, GROUP EDITOR AND CEO OF Y MEDIA; DINESH BHATIA, INDIAN CONSULGENERAL IN TORONTO; ICCC PRESIDENT KANWAR DHANJAL; AAP LEADER HIMMAT SINGH SHERGILL AND PAUL MINHAS AT ICCC'SANNUAL GALA NIGHT IN TORONTO.

I CONTD. ON PAGE 13

FOR AD BOOKINGS ON THESE CHANNELS CONTACT : 416-475-5000

AKALI, BJP, CONGRESS WANT ACTION AGAINSTKHAIRA ON KHALISTAN COMMENT: AAP AGREES

IS SUKHPAL'S POLITICAL CAREER OVER?

CHANDIGARH - Akali Dal, BJP and Congress have demanded the resig-nation of AAP Punjab Opposition leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira for suppor t-ing Referendum 2020, which called for the creation ofKhalistan. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singhcondemned Khaira for backing secessionism withhis categorical suppor t for Sikh Referendum 2020,suppor ted by harliners for the creation of Khalistan.Punjab Congress asked AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal tomake his stand clear and sack Khaira if he did not agreewith his views.Y Media talked to Sukhpal Singh Khaira who deniedthat he ever spoke in favour of Referendum 2020.When asked if he knows or has ever met those whoorganised it, Khaira said he has neither met them

or knows who organised it. Khaira in a statement earlier had said: "Thosedemanding a referendum are within their right. The injustice meted outto Sikhs during the last 34 years has compelled people to make a de-mand like this. You give justice to anti-Sikh riot victims you will come toknow that the justice exists in India. We have nothing to do with referen-dum. But can you stop people living in independent countries? Theirsentiments were hur t so whatever they are doing, they are doing withintheir rights." AAP leadership has vowed to look into the matter the take

action against him. Meanwhile, AAP has disassociated itself fromremarks by its leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira after political par ties

slammed him for "suppor ting" a referendum to let Sikhs de-cide whether they want to secede from India.

PUNJAB OPPOSITION LEADER SAYS HE DID NOT SUPPORT REFERENDUM 2020

BY MEHTAB LOCHAMMISSISSAUGA - Kejriwal's apology to Majithia settled the defa-mation suit, but it raised a different storm in AAP but this episodereceived disproportionate coverage in the media. Kejriwal's apol-ogy, seemingly offered in haste, was an exercise in real politik.This was stated by AAP leader Himmat Singh Shergill, during a de-tailed discussion with Yudhvir Jaswal, Group Editor and CEO of YMedia, on the future of the par ty, and its prospects in the upcominggeneral election of 2019 on Channel Y.

INDIA ELECTIONS 2019: WILL AAPJOIN GRAND ALLIANCE?

I CONTD. ON PAGE 11

INTERNATIONAL DRUG RACKET BUSTED,CANADIANS INVOLVED

JALANDHAR - The four accused arrested in an international drug rackethave been sent to four-day police remand by a cour t in Jaladhar. Theywere involved in smuggling par ty drug ketamine and opium hidden incooking bowls through courier to Canada. The counter-intelligenceteam led by AIG HKPS Khakh has been asked to interrogate Cana-dian citizen Davinder Nirwal alias Dev, besides three others: AjitSingh, alias Jeet, his brother Tarlochan Singh of Jaitewali village(Ja landha r ) and cous in Gurbax S ingh o f Ka t the v i l l age(Hoshiarpur). The police is trying to trace money trail since themaste rmind booked in the case, is based in Canada. The mastermindtook first consignment with him on his return to Canada from India lastyear. The second was sent from Jalandhar through a courier.

WILL SUPPORT HINDU CANDIDATEFOR BRAMPTON MAYOR: FORMER

MP GURBAX MALHI

WHY DID HARINDER MALHILOSE IN ONTARIO ELECTION?

I CONTD. ON PAGE 7

PEEL POLICE CHIEFJENNIFER EVANS GIVENHIGHEST AWARD FROM

ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF

I CONTD. ON PAGE 9

BRAMPTON STUDENTSELECTED AS A

CONTESTANT IN VOICEOF PUNJAB

BRAMPTON - One of our grade 8 students from Rober ta BondarPublic School in Brampton, Jashanpreet Lahori, has been se-lected as a contestant for Voice of Punjab - Chhota Champ Season 5, asinging competition in Punjab, India. Jashanpreet is fulfilling his and his dad'sdream of wanting to become a singer and went to India to specifically auditionfor this competition amongst thousands of other contestants. Fromthose selected, Jashanpreet is one of two from Canada.

POLICE SEARCHFOR MISSING25-YEAR-OLD

MANJIT SINGH

I CONTD. ON PAGE 6

4 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018s p e c i a l r e p o r t

Frederick Banting International School Fosters Critical Thinking in Students

BRAMPTON - At Frederick Banting International School the administration believes that educationought to be an empowering process. Rather than imposing knowledge on students, it shouldguide them to cultivate their own minds and characters.Principal Sanjiv Dhawan professes the school's philosophy: to help children attain self-knowl-edge and improve their own levels of dedication, critical thinking, benevolence, and orientationtowards prompt action. The purpose of education is to open young minds and fill them with awe.This makes it possible for each learner to per fect himself/herself and strive towards creating amorally just, creative, and democratic society!The administration of the school, located at 21 Coventry Rd, believes in a number of foundationalfundamental values. Dhawan stresses the principles of integrity, equality, responsibility, peace,fairness, innovation, risk taking, collaboration, trust, compassion, citizenship, honesty, respect,accountability, and excellence.Frederick BantingSchool aspires to provide an environment for its students that promotes aprogressive pedagogy: emphasizing student-focused learning, less structured curricula, andinspiring students to be intrinsically motivated in their studies. It ultimately seeks to help itsstudents become more creative, innovative, imaginative, and confident problem solvers, highachievers, and life-long learners.The school has followed the same principles on which Guru Tegh Bahadur International Schoolwas built, that is, providing an environment where students are engaged, understood, andsuppor ted. Students learn through inquiry-based instruction where they are encouraged to reachtheir fullest potential.Ultimately, the school is committed to providing a setting that nur tures the development of well-rounded personalities - a setting that suppor ts students in their pursuit of academic success andpersonal growth along with social responsibility. F rederick Banting strives to engage students inan unparalleled educational voyage. In effect, it devises various methods to create innovativelearners.Some of these methods involve par ticipation in enriching field trips. In addition to taking itsstudents to both the Toronto Science Centre and Royal Ontario Museum, the school also recently

visited the nation's capital for three days. There, it engaged in a number of activities seeking topromote students' critical thinking. The students had the privilege of attending Question Period atParliament (graciously organized by MP Raj Grewal's office), which exposed them to livedebates between competing visions of Canada's future.Likewise, students visited the Canada Aviation and Space Museum where they were inspired bythe insatiable human thirst for knowledge and adventure. Students were also able to criticallyevaluates the ever progressive demands of justice during their visit to the Canadian SupremeCour t. While in Ottawa, Frederick Banting also provided its students with the oppor tunity tospeak with the following Members of Parliament: Ruby Sahota, Sonia Sidhu, Ramesh Sangha,and Kamal Khera. Also, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development,Navdeep Bains took the time to share his experiences of parliamentary democracy withFrederick Banting's students. This encounter with commendable political figures inspiredstudents to push the boundaries of their minds fur ther and aim to conquer ever greater intellec-tual and ethical heights. In par ticular, MP Sahota spoke to the students extensively about thedemocratic pillars on which our progressive society is founded: access to oppor tunity, socialjustice, and equality before the law.Along with its extensive extracurricular attention to critical thinking, Frederick Banting alsofollows an individualized teaching approach in the classroom. This begins with its commitmentto small classroom sizes, in which teachers can ensure that each student critically evaluates theintellectual opinions he or she encounters in their studies. Dhawan, a long time academicianhimself, also places a firm emphasis on handwriting and employs a number of renownedpedagogical strategies to ensure that his students' handwriting is not only neat, but also aestheti-cally pleasing.Students are thus taught to approach all endeavours with care and take pride in the excellencethey produce. This puts them in an excellence-striving position from which they are, in turn,able to critically evaluate the ideas of others. Frederick Banting - is currently enrolling for thenext academic session. Registration is open. More information can be obtained from the school'swebsite: fbi.school or by calling reception at 647-407-4600.

MidWeek 5MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 s p e c i a l r e p o r t

INDIA HAS OVERCOME CONGRESS LEGACY, CAN NO MOREUSE IT AS EXCUSE: NITI AAYOG VICE CHAIRMAN

NEW DELHI - Even as the rulingBJP and its senior leaders haverepeatedly attacked the Congressfor leaving behind a legacy of"governance failure", "policy pa-ralysis" and "economy inshambles", the Central govern-ment can no more use this asan excuse and will have to takeownership of not only its ac-complishments but also its fail-ures from now on, NITI AayogV ice Cha i rman Ra j i v Kumarsaid.He said while it was necessaryto look at the last four years of theNarendra Modi government in thecontext of the legacy it inheritedfrom the UPA regime in 2014, theeconomy has now overcome thoseissues and henceforth, the govern-ment should be judged on its ownmerit. "Now the economy hascome out of those inheritance is-sues. No more should they beused as an excuse for anything.Whatever happens now is thegovernment's own (doing) com-pletely," Kumar told IANS in aninterv iew."After al l the government hasdone so much despite all of it( legacy issues). I t took huges t ruc tu ra l r e fo rms l i kedemone t i sa t ion , GST, Inso l -vency and Bankruptcy Code,Benami Ac t , RERA andrecap i ta l i sa t ion o f banks toovercome those legacy issues.I th ink we have f inal ly over-come those and hencefor th, thegovernment should be judged onits own merit," he added.Kumar's remarks hold signifi-cance s ince the Bha ra t i yaJanata Party (BJP) and its se-nior leaders, including PrimeMin is te r Narendra Mod i andUn ion M in is te r A run Ja i t l eyhave repeatedly ripped into theCongress for leaving behind an"economy in a shamb les "which the government was stillbringing on track.Be it the crisis relating to non-per for ming assets, the NiravMod i - l i nked PNB scam, thesorry state of the banking sec-tor, the slow GDP growth rate,the fiscal deficit situation andeven the rising oil prices, theBJP leaders have used everyoppor tunity to blame it all on thelegacy it inherited from the erst-while UPA government.Even the NITI Aayog Vice Chair-man has often talked about thelegacy inherited by the currentgovernment and how it has af-fected its per formance."For a government which hadinherited the most terrible eco-nomic situation and inherited as i tua t ion where there was acomplete paralysis in gover-nance and dec is ion mak ing,and a l so a s i t ua t i on whereworld economy was also notvery good... given the legacy,given the world economy andgiven the breakdown of gover-nance, I think this governmenthas done very we l l , " Kumarsaid.He added that when the BJPtook over in 2014, the inflationhad crossed the 9 per cent markand growth rate had slumped tobelow six per cent. "What (thethen F i nance M in i se r P. )Chidambaram had done was toallow the fiscal deficit to runfrom 2.8 at one time to as far as6.4 per cen t . F rom there tocome to a situation where wehave now achieved a growthrate of 6.7 per cent last year and7.7 percent in the last quar terwith inflation at 3.8 per cent, Ithink that's just remarkable," hesaid.The fiscal deficit for 2017-18was 3.5 per cent and the gov-ernment has set the target ofbringing it down to 3.3 per centin the current fiscal. The notedeconomist added the economywas much more balanced thani t was be fore and had been

pulled out of a crisis -- a "cri-sis of complete private sectorinvestment having been stoppedbecause of the NPAs and thetwin-balance sheet" problem."Not only has this governmentma in ta ined the macro-eco-nomic balance and brought backgrowth on its track but alongwith it, it has made the economyfa r more c l eane r and muchmore formal ised, whi le a lsodoing a lot to improve inclu-sion," he said. Asked if there are

any areas where the govern-ment could have per formed bet-ter , Kumar responded: "Oneclear role which the governmenthas recognised is farmer's in-come. I think this focus has nowbeen brought into the budget. Theagr icul ture sector remains abackward sector and it requiresa lot of reforms."He added that per formance inexpor t sector was a cause of con-cern while the water sector, whichwas turning into a crisis situa-

tion, was another area whichneeded attention along with thequality of education. "These arechronic issues. They take time tobe figured out. But the creditshould be given to the govern-ment that they have recognisedthese problems and is not tryingto hide them or brush them underthe carpet. Also they are tryingnew approaches to improve theper formance like ranking stateson education quality, water con-servation, health," Kumar said.

6 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018c o m m u n i t y

OTTAWA MPP JOHN FRASERSELECTED INTERIM ONTARIOLIBERAL PARTY LEADERONTARIO - Liberal party selected OttawaMPP John Fraser as interim Ontario Lib-eral Party leader. On being chosen asleader, Fraser said: "I will be communi-cating with our membership over the comingdays and am committed to working closelywith them, and with our suppor ters acrossthe province to build a strong and inclu-sive Liberal Par ty."

CRACKING DOWN ON AGGRESSIVE AND MISLEADINGTELECOMMUNICATION SALES PRACTICES

BRAMPTON - MP Sonia Sidhu, Member of Parliament for BramptonSouth, provided an update on the Government's plan to investi-gate repor ts regarding aggressive and misleading telecommu-nication practices. In its April 2018 mid-year repor t, the Com-mission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services foundthat complaints against telecommunications providers hadincreased by 73 percent compared to the previous year."My constituents and Canadians across the country haveexpressed serious concerns about telecommunicationcompanies using misleading or aggressive sales tac-tics" said MP Sidhu. "No Canadian should ever bemisled or treated unfairly by a telecom corpora-tion, especially those who are most vulnerable."Reportedly, more than 900 Canadians, includ-ing over 200 current and former employees ofmajor telecom carriers, contacted the CanadianBroadcasting Corporation (CBC) with accounts corrobo-rating or expanding on the CBC's initial reports aboutillegitimate telecom sales practices.

Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and EconomicDevelopment, late last week announced that the Govern-

ment directed the Canadian Radio-television and Tele-communications Commission (CRTC) to investigateand repor t on the sales practices used by Canada'slargest telecommunication companies. The CRTCwill be required to complete an inquiry and repor ton the matter by February 28, 2019, where Canadi-

ans will have an oppor tunity to be heard andthese issues carefully considered.The repor t resulting from the inquiry mustinclude potential solutions to ensure Ca-nadian consumers are adequately pro-tected and treated fairly. The CRTC is re-sponsible for regulating telecommunica-t ions serv ices and implement ing con-sumer measures such as the Wire lessCode of Conduct. The CRTC has the authorityto conduct public inquiries.

NEW AND IMPROVED PEELREGIONAL POLICE WEBSITEREGION OF PEEL - Peel Regional Police are pleased to announce thelaunch of our refreshed and innovative website. Our website has a newlook and features to help you explore services, programs and crimeprevention resources that Peel Regional Police provide. The websiteembraces changing technology to ensure that it's easier to stay up to datewith what's happening in and outside of our organization.Some of the new features include:" Simpler, more web-friendly language;" Enhanced for mobile, tablet and desktop computers;" Easier to share pages across your social media platforms;" Less steps to locate what you're looking for;" Accessible to people with disabilities.We're especially excited to introduce our News Section, Calendarand Subscribe features. They have been designed to keep you up-to-dateon what we're doing in the region and to make it easier to see what eventswe will be attending in our community by delivering updates to your inboxas items are added.

MP SONIA SIDHU CREATING AWARENESS ABOUT MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AT THE PARLIAMENT HILL.

Police Search For Missing25-Year-Old Manjit SinghREGION OF PEEL - Investigators from the 21Division Criminal Investigation Bureau are seek-ing the public's assistance in locating a missing25 year-old male from Brampton. Manjit Singh waslast seen on Wednesday May 13, 2018 at approxi-mately 7:00 p.m. in the area of Bramalea Road andPeter Robertson Boulevard in the City of Bramptonand was reported to Police by a family member on May 15, 2018. ManjitSingh is described as male, south asian, light complexion, 5'7", slim build,150 pounds, brown eyes, with long straight black hair. He was last seenwearing a blue turban and a white long shirt with white long pants. Policeand family are concerned for Manjit Singh's well-being as he is new to thearea. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Manjit Singh isasked to call investigators at the 21 Division Criminal Investigation Bureauat (905) 453-2121, ext. 2133. Information may also be left anonymouslyby calling Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or by visit-ing www.peelcrimestoppers.ca.

MidWeek 7MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 c o m m u n i t y

Osler's 4th Annual Walk 'n Roll Fest for HealthyFamilies raises over $75,000 for Etobicoke General

ETOBICOKE - Recently over 600 people came together at Woodbineracetrack to par ticipate in the four th annual Walk 'N Roll Fest forHealthy Families in suppor t of William Osler Health System. A triplecrown wasn't at stake-the 5 km walk was focused on something evenmore valuable-raising vital funds for Etobicoke General Hospital (EGH),which is currently undergoing a transformation.This year's event raised $75,448. "The community really stepped upto the plate to suppor t health care in Etobicoke," said Ken Mayhew,President and CEO, Wil l iam Osler Health System Foundation."Etobicoke General is being transformed and we are very grateful forthe help to build and equip the new patient tower. Thank you to every-one who came out to suppor t their community hospital!" Par ticipantsand volunteers at Walk 'n Roll Fest had a great time as they com-pleted the circuit under blue skies. After crossing the finish line, ev-eryone was treated to a healthy lunch and entertainment that included

bouncy castles, face-painting, a reptile petting zoo, games and a spell-binding magic show.All funds raised will be matched by Orlando Corporation's $15 MillionMatching Challenge and will help equip the new patient tower at EGH,which is currently under construction. Scheduled to open to the publicin early 2019, the new tower will provide greater access to programsand services, like emergency and women's and children's care, whichare needed most by the growing community.The new tower will include a new Emergency Depar tment, CriticalCare and Intensive Care Units, Maternal Newborn Unit, AmbulatoryProcedures Unit, as well as Cardiorespiratory and Neurodiagnosticservices. Special thanks to the sponsors who suppor ted the Walk 'nRoll Fest for Healthy Families this year including BMO Bank ofMontreal, Woodbine Enter tainment (Venue and Lunch Sponsor), CIBCand Diamondboi Designs.

Canada India Foundation HailsOntario PC Par ty's victory inProvincial electionsTORONTO - The Canada India Foundation has welcomedthe l ands l i de v ic to ry o f t he On ta r io P rog ress i veConservative Par ty in the provincial elections held lastweek, and hear t i ly congratulated Hon. Doug Ford, thePremier -elect, for leading his par ty back to power af ter 15years."The Ontario PC Party's electoral landslide is a clearindication that people of Ontario want a return to fiscaldiscipline and an end to the profligate spending of publicresources," Anil Shah, the CIF's National Convenor, said in astatement issued by the Foundation in Toronto.The Canada India Foundation is a not-for-profit, non-par tisan publicpolicy advocacy organisation with twin objectives of fosteringbetter bilateral relations between Canada and India, andenhancing participation of Indo-Canadians into the Canadianmainstream. While the statement emphasized the need for urgentfiscal measures to ensure the deficit that had ballooned tounmanageable $12.2 billion was contained, it also stronglyrecommended new policy initiatives to encourage growth in theprovince. "Concomitant with the fiscal measures, the Doug Fordadministration will also have to urgently initiate policies that willgive an impetus to economic growth," Ajit Someshwar, the Chairof the CIF said. This must include tax and trade reforms thatencourage investments in the province and propel exports. Onthe Canada-India relations, the statement emphasized that theFoundation would work closely with the new provincialgovernment to improve political and trade and investmentrelations with India. "The two-way merchandise trade betweenOntario and India stood at $2.64billion in 2017, and there alsosubstantial Indian investment in Ontario," Someshwar said,adding that over 700,000 Indo-Canadians have made Ontariothei r home.Shah said the Foundation would "constructively engage with theFord administration soon to apprise the new government of the issuesthat are of tremendous significance to the Indo-Canadian community,including the private member's motion moved by the former Liberalgovernment passed in the Ontario Legislature per taining to the anti-Sikh violence in India."

WILL SUPPORT HINDU CANDIDATE FOR BRAMPTONMAYOR: FORMER MP GURBAX MALHI

WHY DID HARINDER MALHI LOSE IN ONTARIO ELECTION?

FROM L TO R: GURBAX MALHI, FORMER LIBERAL MP; GLOBAL AFFAIRS EXPERTS - GURJOT NAROO AND RUPINDER HAYER - ANDYUDHVIR JASWAL, GROUP EDITOR AND CEO OF Y MEDIA DISCUSSED FUTURE OF LIBERAL PARTY IN ONATRIO AT CHANNEL Y.

Highly-skilled immigrants, like Sudarshan Bhandari of Brampton, oftenneed to complete licensing, training and exams to secure credentials towork in Canada. This process takes time but it also takes money, andnewcomers may lack access to mainstream credit if they don't have aCanadian credit history, income or collateral. Immigrant Access Fundprovides low-interest microloans of up to $10,000 to internationally trainedprofessionals so they can return to their careers in Canada.Prior to arriving in Brampton, Ontario, physiotherapist Sudarshan Bhandarihad practiced for three years in Nepal, earning his physiotherapy degree.He knew that without his license he could not practice as a full physio-therapist, but he also discovered that his lack of Canadian experiencemade him uncompetitive in the labour market. It became clear to Sudarshanthat in order to overcome these barriers, he would have to secure hisfinancial situation and pursue licensure in Canada.Sudarshan visitedmultiple physiotherapy clinics before one offered himthe chance to volunteer with their licensed physiotherapists for a fewhours each week. His efforts were further rewarded when several weekslater, a par t-time Physiotherapy Assistant position became available.During Sudarshan's volunteer shifts, clinic staff witnessed both his apti-tude in physiotherapy as well as his kind and helpful nature when interact-ing with their patients. As a result, the clinic offered Sudarshan the part-time position, which he gratefully accepted.Sudarshan knewthat the first step to licensure was having his educationassessed by the Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators. ToSudarshan's great relief, his education was assessed as being equal tothat of a Canadian physiotherapy degree. The remaining steps in theprocess were a written exam, followed by a six-hour clinical exam wherehe would have to demonstrate his knowledge of assessment and therapy.Sudarshan was happy to be making progress but wasn't certain how he'dbe able to pay for either exam.On the advice of his friend who had com-pleted his own professional licensing exams through an IAF loan, Sudarshanapproached IAF and discussed his situation with an intake representative.He submitted his application and after a brief evaluation period, Sudarshanreceived his loan.With his IAF loan, he was able to focus on studying for the exams ratherthan worrying about how to pay for them. As a result, Sudarshan passedboth his exams, received his license and accepted his first job as alicensed physiotherapist in Canada at a long term care facility. Sudarshanworked there for two years before joining a private clinic where he workstoday. "I was having some financial difficulties due to working variablehours in low paying jobs," Sudarshan says. "It was causing me stress andpreventing me from saving the money I needed to write my licensingexams. When IAF helped me pay for those exams and study materials, itwas really helpful and it got me back on track so I could complete mylicensing process."Immigrant Access Fund's microloans are available across Canada and tosuppor t immigrants and refugees seeking to return to any profession.Over 97% of all microloans are repaid and the average IAF client multi-plies their income by three. www.iafcanada.org

BY SHAZIA MALIKMISSISSAUGA - We must open up our hear ts and support Hindu commu-nity to help them get into the political arena. It would be my heart-feltdesire to suppor t a Hindu candidate for the post of Brampton mayor. Thiswas stated by former MP Gurbax Malhi during a panel discussion withYudhvir Jaswal, Group Editor and CEO of Y Media at Channel Y. The topicof discussion was future of Liberal party in Canada.Malhi said as Canadians one believes in shared values and do every-thing in one's capacity to maintain harmony in society. Several Sikhshave made it to the parliament at the provincial and federal level but it isabout time that the Hindus are assisted to represent their community inBrampton city so it is "my ardent desire that a Hindu candidate takes upthe role of mayor in Brampton."When asked why his daughter, Harinder Malhi, who was a Liberal MPPand Minister Responsible for Women's Issues, lost, Malhi replied it hap-pened because of the PC wave. When asked she even brought the 1984

Motion in the parliament, then why did the community not suppor t her,Malhi again replied, nothing works when a cer tain wave for a partystarts. Malhi was also asked about the future of Liberal par ty in Ontarioas it has lost its official status and secured only seven seats, and if thiswill affect federal elections in 2019, Malhi said only time will tell. Pres-ently, the new Ontario premier-elect Doug Ford has been asked by fewnot to give any official status to the Liberal par ty as it is in heavy debt andcannot raise funds. Due to this, it would not be able to stand and contestin upcoming elections. Therefore, the Conservatives will only have oneparty - NDP to tackle.Others say if Liberals are given that status, Conservatives will contestagainst two par ties. However, in that case the vote bank will get dividedbetween the Liberals and the NDP. Other panelists - Gurjot Naroo andRupinder Hayer also agreed with this sentiment. Both were amazed theway Liberals were wiped away in Brampton and Mississauga. Full de-tails can be viewed on Channel Y.

IMMIGRANT ACCESS FUND HELPSSOUTH ASIAN PHYSIOTHERAPISTRETURN TO CAREER IN CANADA

MINISTER MCKENNA DISCUSSES AMBITION FOR CLIMATE ACTIONOTTAWA - Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, was in London to meet with leaders from theUnited K ingdom to advance action on shared environmental priorities, such as phasing out coal; reducing plastic pollution; andadvancing ambitious climate action to protect our environment, grow our economy, and create jobs. Earlier Minister McKennamet with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Michael Gove, and the Minister of State for Energy andClean Growth, Claire Per r y.During the meeting with Secretary Gove, they exchanged on key issues to advance during the upcoming meeting of G7ministers of environment, energy, and oceans, such as climate change and sustainable finance, with a focus on marine plasticpollution. Both Minister McKenna and Secretary Gove highlighted the impor tance of businesses in the transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.With Minister Per r y, Minister McKenna discussed joint climate and environment initiatives that are advancing our commit-ments to the Paris Agreement, such as the Powering Past Coal Alliance, the Mission Innovation par tnership, and the Canada-United Kingdom par tnership on clean growth and climate change. The United Kingdom is one of Canada's most impor tantinternational par tners, and we will continue to collaborate on ambitious and effective solutions to protect our shared environ-ment, fight climate change, and promote oppor tunities for clean economic growth.

8 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018opinion

Published By

Asian World Today Inc.1310, Midway Blvd, Unit # 31, Mississauga Ontario L5T 2K5

Direct Line - 647-272-8182Tel: 905-670-3687 Fax: 905-670-5344

YUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALYUDHVIR JASWALCHIEF EDITOR & CEO

yudhvir@southasiandaily.com647-272-8182647-272-8182647-272-8182647-272-8182647-272-8182

All Rights Reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be printed without the written consent of thepublisher. DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: DISCLAIMER: Asian World Today Inc. assumes all advertisers to be reliable and responsible for anyand all liability from their claims. The publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertisement he may see unfitfor publication. The opinions expressed in Midweek may not be those of the publisher.

Published By

Asian World Today Inc.1310, Midway Blvd, Unit # 31, Mississauga Ontario L5T 2K5

Direct Line - 647-272-8182Tel: 905-670-3687 Fax: 905-670-5344

E-mail : For Advertisingyudhvir@southasiandaily.com

Newspaper

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLYPublished in English every Tuesday

Radio

SOUTHASIAN PULSEPrime Time Mon to Fri - 10:00 AM to 12 Noon

on 770AMDrive Time Mon to Fri - 3:00 PM to 6 PM

on 91.9 FMLISTEN TO SOUTH ASIAN PULSE RADIO

ON YOUR MOBILELocal Number Toronto: 647-557-1017

Local Number Montreal: 438-795-9000To Listen in US: 213-493-2020

Television

CHANNEL YRogers 857

Bell 828Yupp TV

Online

WWW.SOUTHASIANDAILY.COMONLY News Portal for Southasian-Canadians

Cricket

CANADIAN PROFESSIONALCRICKET (CPC)

6th AnnualCPC Inter-City Cricket Cup Starting June 2013

6 Months of Non-stop cricket action

Events

AnnualMidweek Southasian Awards

MidWeek

SUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMASUNIL VERMAGRAPHICS DEPARTMENT BASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIRBASHIR NASIR

PHOTOGRAPHERS

THAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWTHAPLIYAL & RAI LAWOFFICEOFFICEOFFICEOFFICEOFFICE

LEGAL ADVISOR

NAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMANAVEEN SHARMA INDIA MARKETING HEAD

DR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARDR. PUSHPINDER BRARCONTRIBUTING WRITER

ALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYALI - NICE PHOTOGRAPHYPHOTOGRAPHERS

SHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKSHAZIA MALIKASSOCIATE EDITOR

DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED ON THIS PAGE ARE THE PERSONAL OPINIONS OF THE AUTHORS.THE INFORMATION, FACTS OR OPINIONS APPEARING IN THEARTICLES DO NOT REFLECT VIEWS OF MIDWEEK AND ITS MANAGEMENT AND SO THE PAPER DOES NOT ASSUME ANY RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR THE SAME.

GURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAGURPREET SINGH LOONAOPERATIONS MANAGER

India kept its interests 'safe' at SCO SummitBY AROONIM BHUYAN

E-mail : For Advertisingads@midweektoronto.com

PRANAB'S MISSION NAGPUR:STRIKING A BLOW FOR DEMOCRACY

BY TARUN BASU

In keeping out of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and signing anagreement on sharing of hydrological data on the Brahmaputra river andanother on expor ting rice following a bilateral meeting between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, India kept itsinterests safe in this year's Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)Summit, experts said.India has not extended support to President Xi's flagship initiative as akey project under it, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), passesthrough Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).Modi reiterated India's position that international connectivity projectsshould respect other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity. Stat-ing that connectivity with neighbours and within the SCO area is a priorityfor India, Modi, during his intervention at the Summit in Qingdao, China,on Sunday said: "We welcome new connectivity projects that are inclu-sive, sustainable and transparent, and respect countries' sovereigntyand territorial integrity."The SCO is a Eurasian inter-governmental organisation, the creation ofwhich was announced in 2001 in Shanghai by Kazakhstan, China,Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It was preceded by theShanghai Five mechanism. India and Pakistan were granted full mem-bership of the bloc in June last year. In the final Qingdao Declarationissued after the Summit, India's name is conspicuously missing in thepart about the BRI.According to Anil Wadhwa, Senior Fellow in the Vivekananda Interna-tional Foundation think tank and former Secretary (East) in the ExternalAffairs Ministry, the meeting between Modi and Xi was a forward move-ment from the informal meeting between the two leaders in Wuhan in April withdecisions being taken to set up a special representatives-level meeting mecha-nism and to boost cultural relations between India and China.As for India not extending suppor t to the BRI, Wadhwa told IANS thatnobody expected India to endorse Xi's pet initiative. "I don't think it will affect Indiadiplomatically as there is an understanding between both sides (India and China),"he said. "If they look at the Nor theast in the future from the BBIN(Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal) rubric, that is a different matter."However, Wadhwa sounded sceptical about the two agreements signed

between India and China - a memorandum of understanding on the Chi-nese side providing hydrological data on the Brahmaputra river in floodseason from May 15 to October 15 every year and an amendment to a2006 protocol for expor ting rice from India to China to include the expor tof non-Basmati varieties of rice from India."With China already having built three dams on their side of theBrahmaputra, I don't know how useful the data will be," he said. As forexpor ting non-Basmati varieties of rice, he said that such a market doesnot currently exist in China and this has to be created. However, SujitDutta, a domain exper t on China who is also Professor in the NelsonMandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution in Jamia Milia Islamiahere, was positive about the two agreements. "India kept its interestssafe. While the agreement on sharing Brahmaputra will benefit India, theone on rice exports will help our farmers," Dutta said. As for the BRI, hesaid that India has always made it clear that it would not suppor t theChinese initiative."How can India support something that threatens its sovereignty with theCPEC going through PoK?" he said. Modi said in Qingdao that India'scommitment to connectivity is visible nevertheless in the InternationalNor th-South Transport Corridor, the development of the Chabahar Por t inIran, to which India, Iran and Afghanistan are signatories, and participa-

tion in specific projects like the Ashgabat Agreement, a multimodal trans-por t agreement between India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Oman, Turkmenistanand Uzbekistan.Another reason for India not taking par t in the BRI, Dutta said, is thatChinese loans for projects under this have high interest rates and termsand conditions are not transparent. Giving Hambantota por t in Sri Lankaas an example, he said that the por t has been given to a Chinese com-pany on a 99-year lease and Colombo will find it difficult to repay the loan. He saidthat same is the case with Gwadar port in Pakistan and Islamabad might wellcome under Chinese influence after finding it difficult to repay loans."We (India) can't become vulnerable to Chinese pressure and take loanswhich we can't repay," Dutta said. According to C. Uday Bhaskar, strate-gic analyst and Director of the Society for Policy Studies think tank, thekey takeaway from the SCO Summit "is the manner in which India con-veyed to its SCO peers that it can remain resolute when it comes to corenational interests, for example, sovereignty. But it will also engage withthe others in a principles, yet pragmatic manner," Bhaskar said. He saidthat the Indian stand on the BRI will be watched very closely not just byChina, but all the other nations who have signed up. "Hopefully, the Wuhanspirit will prevail with respect to the BRI and make the issue less intrac-table when President Xi visits India in 2019," Bhaskar stated.

Here was Pranab Mukherjee, a dyed-in-the-wool secularist, who hadspent a lifetime in the Congress par ty, then became the President ofIndia with the responsibility of upholding its Constitution, sharing theplatform with, and enjoying the hospitality of, a person -- and theorganisation he heads, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) -espousing values and ideals that are the very antithesis of all hestood and strove for his entire life."You were par t of the government that banned the RSS in 1975 andagain in 1992. Don't you think you should tell us what was evil aboutRSS then that it has become vir tuous now?" asked a middle-levelCongress leader of Mukherjee after his controversy-tinged visit to theheadquar ters of the Hindu-first outfit that is the ideological mentor ofthe ruling Bharatiya Janata Par ty (BJP) of Prime Minister NarendraModi. Many in the Congress par ty, including his own daughter, ques-tioned the wisdom of the former head of state and elder statesmanaccepting an invitation from the organisation that has been a betenoire to the left-liberal-secular establishment.Not just the committed, but even concerned citizens, have been voic-ing their anguish at the creeping climate of hate and prejudice in thecountry and blamed the ideology of the RSS and its affiliated SanghParivar outfits for the systemic attacks on minorities and suppres-sion of the voice of socially oppressed groups. Many have voicedfears that if such venom was allowed to spread, it might end uptearing up the multireligious, multiethnic and multicultural social fab-ric of India that makes the country so unique."Today we are confronted with a politics of hate that has swept largepar ts of our country..... Muslims live in fear of the shape of the nextround of attacks, even as the rights of Dalits and Adivasis enshrinedin the Constitution are being questioned," read the flier distributed atthe #NotInMyName protests across the country in April after thebrutal violations of young girls, allegedly by elements with affiliationsto Hindu nationalist groups. In this atmosphere of growing polarisationstepped in the 83-year-old Mukherjee, bearding the lion in his ownden as it were, ignoring appeals by some old cabinet and par ty col-leagues.In a speech that was followed nationally on live television, Mukherjeesaid that the "soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance" and"secularism and inclusion are a matter of faith for us". He remindedthe RSS rank and file who preached a Hindu supremacist ideologyand whose founder considered Muslims and Christians as "invaders"that "the multiplicity of culture, faith and language is what makesIndia special" and "any attempt at defining our nationhood in terms ofdogmas and identities of religion, region, hatred and intolerance willonly lead to dilution of national identity."Was Mukherjee wrong in going to Nagpur, in breach of the beliefs andvalues he is known to have held dear all through his half-a-century-

long political career? A peek into his thinking was available in hisaddress in which he expressed anguish over how "manifestations ofrage" were tearing apar t the national fabric. He said a "dialogue isnecessary not only to balance the competing interests but also toreconcile them... only through a dialogue can we develop the under-standing to solve complex problems without an unhealthy strife withinour polity."Dialogue and accommodation are the cornerstones of democraticfunctioning and their absence have often sounded the death knell ofdemocracy. In the celebrated book "How Democracies Die", Harvardprofessors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt talk about how "ex-treme par tisan division" in American democracy today -- followingthe norm-breaking tenure of President Donald Tr ump -- was beingfuelled not just by policy differences between the Republicans andDemocrats "but by deeper sources of resentment, including racialand religious differences" and was eroding the "guardrails of democ-racy."India today stands similarly at a crossroads, unprecedented perhapsin its 71-year history. As the national discourse becomes heated bythe day, with a permissive social media often fanning the division andhatred between the two extreme par tisan ideologies, the growingslugfest and the low level of the debate is leading to a gradual disillu-sionment with democracy among ordinary citizens, par ticularly theyouth, who yearn for change and progress.With the country headed towards what could be one of the bitterestelections in recent history, not only between sworn political rivals butbetween ideologies that are fundamentally at odds with each other intheir national outlook and their very definition of who is an Indian, thepar tisan polemics over every issue and policy of national concern iseroding India's fundamental unity. If India, an exemplar of democracy,were to fragment on religious or caste lines, analysts say it couldhave a devastating effect on the region and the rest of the world.And that is perhaps why Mukherjee felt he had to step in to bridge thedeepening chasm in the national discourse and plead for dialogue.Whether the canny former politician did it with any eye on the nextelections -- in politics, as Franklin Roosevelt said, nothing happensby accident -- may not be known immediately, but to denounce hisvisit as self-serving and a betrayal is to lose sight of the fundamentaltenets of democracy which the world has come to value in India."Messy as it may be, India's political system may be credited withgreat achievements," The Economist said in one of its recent col-umns referring to a Pew Global survey which found Indians to be lessenthusiastic about democracy and more drawn towards having astrong leader or military rule than citizens of any other democracysurveyed. "It has helped hold a huge and almost impossibly diversecountry together. It has kept the army out of power. And it has upheldcivic freedoms that, for all their fragility, remain the envy of many ofIndia's neighbours."

MidWeek 9MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 c a n a d a

General Accounting & Bookkeeping

DEFENCE MINISTER HARJIT SAJJAN MET WITH KUWAITI MINISTER OF DEFENSE SABAH AL-AHMAD AL-JABER AL-SABAH IN OTTAWA.

DEFENCE MINISTER HARJIT SAJJAN MET WITH THE US SECRETARY OF DEFENCE JAMES MATTIS.

PEEL POLICE CHIEF JENNIFER EVANS GIVEN HIGHESTAWARD FROM ONTARIO ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE

TORONTO - The Ontario Associa-tion of Chiefs of Police (OACP) hasnamed Chief Jennifer Evans as the2018 recipient of the OACPPresident's Award of Merit, theassociation's highest award. ThePresident's Award of Merit recog-nizes an OACP member who hasdemonstrated outstanding dedica-tion and suppor t to the association."Throughout her career, ChiefEvans has demonstrated a pas-sionate commitment to her com-munity, her police service, and po-licing in Ontario and Canada," saidChief Bryan Larkin, OACP Presi-dent. "Her accomplishments speakfor themselves. Chief Evans' com-mitment for delivering effectivepolicing is balanced by her com-passion for people. As a past Presi-dent of our association and a Directoron the Canadian Association of Chiefsof Police's Board of Directors, she hasmade policing better."I am honoured to receive this pres-tigious award and would like tothank OACP President, Chief BryanLarkin, for selecting me as the re-cipient," said Chief Jennifer Evans,"I am very proud of the work theOACP does to ensure law enforce-ment in this province remains com-mitted to providing effective polic-ing and ensuring our communitiesremain safe. It is a pleasure to berecognized for my contribution tothe success of this association bymy peers, and I want to say thankyou for their suppor t."

Chief Jennifer Evans began her ca-reer with Peel Regional Police in1983 when she joined as a Cadet.Since that time, she progressedthrough the organization with no-table assignments, include the Uni-form Branch, Youth Bureau, and theCriminal Investigations Bureau. In1996, she assisted Justice ArchieCampbell in the Review involvingserial rapist and murderer PaulBernardo and later accepted a two-year secondment to work as a Vio-lent Crime Analyst at the Provin-cial ViCLAS Centre in Orillia. ChiefEvans also worked throughout

Ontario for the Office of the ChiefCoroner as an investigator and con-ducted several in-custody death in-vestigations that were subject tomandatory inquests. Upon her re-turn to Peel Regional Police, sheworked as a Detective in Homicideand Missing Persons Bureau andas the Inspector-in-Charge.Chief Evans was promoted toDeputy Chief of Police in 2008. InOctober 2010, she was secondedto conduct a review of the MissingWomen Investigations in lowermainland British Columbia. She re-viewed thousands of documents

and conducted numerous inter-views with police officers involvedin the initial investigation of Rober tPickton prior to his arrest in Febru-ary 2002. In January 2012, she testifiedat the Missing Women Commission ofInquiry regarding her report. Chief Evans'knowledge and experience is recog-nized both provincially and nationally.In October 12, 2012, she was ap-pointed as Chief of Peel RegionalPolice. She was appointed to theOrder of Merit of the Police Forcesby the Governor General of Canadain 2013 and served as President ofthe OACP for 2014-15.

Minister Champagne to leaddelegation of Canadianbusiness women ininternational trade to DetroitOTTAWA - The Government of Canada is committed toadvanc ing gende r equa l i t y and c rea t i ng moreoppor tunities for women to par ticipate in the economyand create growth that works for everyone. From June20 to 21, François-Phil ippe Champagne, Minister ofInternat ional Trade, wi l l lead the f i rst delegat ion ofCanadian business women to the Women's BusinessEn te rp r i se Na t iona l Counc i l (WBENC) Na t iona lConference and Business Fair in Detroit. This year'stheme is Join Forces, Succeed Together!While at the conference, Minister Champagne will hosta reception for the Canadian delegation and invited USbus iness gues ts . The Min is te r w i l l a lso de l i ve r akeynote address at the WBENC final luncheon. While inDetroit, the Minister will par ticipate in a discussion withthe leadership and the board of Directors of the DetroitReg iona l Chamber and a l so l ead a round t ab l ediscussion on Canadian Innovation, R&D and Ar tificialIntelligence (AI) capabilities. The Minister will also takethis oppor tunity to meet with automotive industry andother business leaders on both sides of the border whohave an interest in trade and investment with Canada. "The Government of Canada recognizes that women areintegral to international trade and to economic growth.Over the last few decades, trailblazing Canadian womenhave increasingly brought their energy, ideas, andentrepreneur ia l sp i r i t to bear throughout Canada 'sbus iness wor ld . F rom sma l l and med ium-s i zedbusinesses, to large, mult inat ional f i rms, Canadianbus iness women are mak ing a pos i t i ve impact inmarke ts a l l over the world." - François-Phi l ippeChampagne, Minister of International Trade

Investing $8.5m in AgriculturalBiotechnology SectorSASKATOON - Federal Agriculture Minister LawrenceMacAulay and Saskatchewan Agriculture Minister LyleStewart announced renewed funding for Ag-West Biothrough the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Ag-WestBio will receive $1.7 million per year for the next fiveyears , fo r a to ta l o f $8.5 mi l l ion , to suppor t thedevelopment of the agricultural biotechnology sector inSaskatchewan."Innovation is key to enhancing competitiveness anddriving sustainable growth in the agriculture sector. Thisfunding will help bring new research to market and growthe economy, which will strengthen the middle classand c rea te even more oppor tun i t i es fo r t heSaskatchewan ag industr y." - Lawrence MacAulay,Federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food"Th is i nves tmen t demons t ra tes how ag r i cu l t u reresearch is a priority for our government, and workstowards our goal of making Saskatchewan a worldleader in biosciences by 2020. Since its inception, Ag-West Bio has played a significant role in the province'sbioscience innovation cluster and this renewed fundingwill allow its impor tant work to continue." - Lyle Stewar t,Saskatchewan Minister of Agriculture"It's a fascinating time to be involved in agriculture. Growthis being driven by both bio- and digital technologies. Ag-food is an area with significant potential; this renewedfunding gives Ag-West Bio the resources to move this sectorto the next level."- Dr. Wilf Keller, Ag-West Bio presidentand CEO.

10 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

MidWeek 11MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 i n d i a

PUNJAB CM ANNOUNCESPROJECTS WORTHIRS 2,140 CR IN JALANDHARSHAHKOT (PUNJAB), (IANS) Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh on Thursday announced developmentprojects of Rs 2,140 crore for Jalandhar and Shahkot as agesture of gratitude to the people for ensuring the Con-gress candidate's victory in the Shahkot bypoll.Addressing a thanksgiving rally here, the Chief Ministersaid the Congress was indebted to the voters of the Shahkotassembly segment, who had ensured a sweeping victoryfor par ty's candidate Hardev Singh Laddi to secure two-thirds majority for the Congress in the state assembly.Announcing a slew of infrastructure and other develop-ment projects, he asked legislators Rana Gurjit Singh andLaddi to submit a detailed proposal of projects for Shahkotso that the funds, as needed, could be released at theear l iest . Whi le work on four- laning of Jalandhar-Hoshiarpur, up to Himachal border (National Highway 70)had already star ted at a total cost of Rs 1,069 crore, an-other Rs 1,000 crore had been allocated for four-laning ofJalandhar bye-pass linking National Highway 70 and 71from Jandhu Singha to Pratappura via Jamsher, saidAmarinder Singh. Other infrastructural developmentprojects announced by him included construction of roadover bridge on the Chougeti-Ladhewali road, besides wid-ening and strengthening of the Jalandhar-Jandiala-Nurmahal-Talwan road, on which work had commenced.Former Minister Gurjit Singh sought a special package forthe Doaba region, urging the Chief Minister to get the BistDoab canal concrete lining project wor th Rs 150 crorecompleted to facilitate the farming community, and to savedepleting ground water. He also sought setting up of amedical college in the Doaba region to impar t quality healthservices to the people. Earlier, Laddi demanded setting upof a potato processing unit near Malsian to boost the inter-ests of the potato farmers.

KEJRIWAL GUARANTEES IASOFFICERS' SECURITY, ASKSTHEM TO RETURN TO WORKNEW DELHI, (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwalon Sunday assured the IAS officers of their safety andsecurity and urged them to "return to work" and attendministers' meetings. "I wish to assure them that I will en-sure their safety and security with all my powers and re-sources available at my command. I have given similarassurances earlier also to many officers who have beenmeeting me privately. I reiterate it today," Kejriwal said ina letter posted on his Twitter account.

Would like to see RahulGandhi as future PM: KulkarniMUMBAI, (PTI) BJP veteran L K Advani's former aideSudheendra Kulkarni today said India needs a leader whocan solve "big problems" such as the Kashmir issue andtherefore he would like to see Congress chief Rahul Gandhias the future prime minister. Listing disputes with Paki-stan and China, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modihas "failed" to solve the big problems.Speaking at a panel discussion in Mumbai, Kulkarnipraised Gandhi, saying he is a "leader with good hear t."He said dialogue is the only solution to solve the long-standing dispute with Pakistan, and normalising tieswith the neighbouring country is key to India becominga great nation. "We must state what is required for solv-ing the problem with Pakistan. And which is why I madea suggestion that I would like to see Rahul Gandhi asfuture prime minister," he said at the event organisedby All India Professionals' Congress.The event was attended by senior Congress leaderSalman Khurshid, whose book 'Spectrum Politics' waslaunched there. Kulkarni added: "(Rahul Gandhi) isyoung and he is idealist. He is a man with compassion.No political leader in recent times had spoken the lan-guage of love, affection and compassion." Ahead ofthe 2019 general elections, Kulkarni said Gandhi shouldvisit neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Chinaand Bangladesh and emerge with ideas to solve the "bigproblems."

Girl from Punjab's backwardarea tops AIIMS entranceCHANDIGARH, (IANS) Eliza Bansal, 17, from Punjab's back-ward area of Lehragaga in Sangrur district has topped inthe entrance examination for the prestigious All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Elizascored 100 percentile marks in the entrance for theBachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)course at AIIMS according to the result was declaredon Monday. Lehragaga, a municipal town in Punjab'sSangrur district, around 165 km from here, does noteven have proper medical facilities and enough doc-tors itself. Eliza, whose father Vijay Kumar is a teacherof Economics in a government school in Sangrur dis-trict and mother is a homemaker, was a student of theDAV Senior Secondary Public School in Lehragaga. Shesaid that she always wanted to become a doctor andwants to improve medical facilities in her area. Shetook coaching from a priva te institute from Patiala city.Three students from Chandigarh and Panchkula made it inthe top 10 positions in the AIIMS entrance test. MehakArora (AIR-3), Manraj Singh Sra (AIR-4), EishvaukAggarwal (AIR-10) were in the top-10 list.

India elections 2019: Will AAP join grand alliance?

CONTD. FROM PAGE 3Ever since its inception, AAPhas weathered many a storms,from leaders like YogendraYadav and Prashant Bhushanstriking out on their own tofissures developing within thepar ty over decisions on criticalmatters. The par ty captured theimagination of Punjabis in thegeneral election of 2014. Thepar ty secured four seats out of13 parliamentary constituenciesin Punjab-Sangrur, Faridkot,Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib.Interestingly, these were theonly seats the AAP won in theelections. Ipso facto, thepolitical abacus was rearrangedand AAP focused its attentionand devoted its resourcestowards winning the Punjabassembly election.Consequently, AAP succeededin becoming the chief oppositionpar ty in the assembly in itsdebut, with the leader ofopposition nominated from

among its members. AAP leaderHimmat Singh Shergill, whocontested from Majitha againstthe incumbent Bikramjit SinghMajithia in 2017, made newswhen he took on a transpor tcompany owned by the Badals.Subsequently, he joined politicsand is considered to be one ofthe key-strategists in AAP.Replying to a question on AAP'sloss in the Rajouri Gardenbyelection, Shergill acceptedthe par ty's error in judgement ofthe pulse of the people, but citedthe result of the Bawanabyelection to balance thescales. On whether Khairaplanned a coup or not, Shergilldismissed it as a figment ofimagination of a par tisansection of the media.GRAND ALLIANCE?Speculation is rife on whetherAAP would join the GrandAlliance (i.e. if such an allianceis ever formed) as the time forelections draws closer. The

posse of leaders at the swear-ing-in ceremony of H.D.Kumaraswamy, and the group-photo taken thereof, hasprovided the necessary grist tokeep the mill of the politicalpundits running. If indeed suchan alliance comes into being,who will be chosen to be theprime minister? Does Kejriwalfigure in the list of names?When these questions wereposed to Shergill, he respondedby bringing to attention thespeculator nature of thesequestions. He said that onecould not answer these ques-tions as these were subject tovagaries of political alliances."Disaffection has set in amongthe people in regard to BJP,people cannot be fooled all thetime and sooner or later, hardand concrete facts disrobesophistry," Shergill said whilecommenting on BJP's perfor -mance in the recentbyelections.

THE FUTURE AHEADIf the AAP becomes a member-par ty of the Grand Alliance, thewarp-and-woof of the par ty'sconstitution would be shaken upas it would be in alliance withsome of those leaders whomAAP's leaders have accused ofcorruption. Will politicalexpediency eclipse the prin-ciples and values that AAPclaims its fabric to be com-posed of? Or is this a pragmaticapproach that any political par tymust choose when at a cross-roads? Only time will tell. Butthe popularity of the par ty doesnot seem to have waned amongthe NRIs. They still consider itas the most suitable alternative.And as one viewer informed usof his reason for sticking withAAP, he quoted Margaret Mead:"Never doubt that a small groupof thoughtful, committedcitizens can change the world;indeed, it's the only thing thatever has."

Sushma Swaraj arrives Monday on maiden visit to FranceBY RANVIR NAYAR

PARIS, (IANS) Taking stock of the progress on the series of agreements that India and France signed during the visit of F renchPresident Emmanuel Macron to India in March would be high on the agenda as Indias External Affairs Minister Sushma Swarajarrives in Paris later Monday on a two-day visit. This is the first visit that Swaraj will be making to France in her four-year tenure.During her visit, Swaraj will hold discussions with her F rench counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian and is also expected to call onPresident Macron.The discussions with Le Drian will primarily focus on the movement made by both sides in agreements such as the one on logisticswhich provides access to the defence forces of both the countries to each other's military facilities. The two ministers will alsoreview the progress made on key agreements such as mutual recognition of educational degrees and cer tificates as well as theagreement on mobility that was signed during Macron's sejour in New Delhi.Swaraj will also discuss issues such as developments in India's relations with its neighbours, especially ties with Pakistan andChina, as well as terrorism. The two ministers will also review the situation in Syria, Iran and the recent summit between e USPresident Donald Trump and Nor th Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The looming trade war between the US and its various par tners,including India and the EU, could also figure in the talks.Swaraj will also dedicate the Indian Cultural Centre, cur rently under construction in Paris, to Swami Vivekananda. During her stay,Swaraj will address the Indian diaspora in F rance and also visit the Maison de l'Inde (India House) to mark its 50th anniversary.Maison de l'Inde serves as a home away from home for Indian students and visiting faculties here in Paris.

Punjab govt amends rule to check misuse of stamp duty rebateCHANDIGARH, (PTI) The Punjab government has amended a rule to curb the misuse of stamp duty rebate extended to women onproper ty registration, a state minister said.The scheme was launched to empower women by giving them a two per cent rebate on the acquisition of proper ty in their name. Itwas misused by unscrupulous persons who registered the proper ty in a woman's name to avail the rebate and later, transferred thesame in the name of a male relative, Revenue Minister Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria said here. The decision to amend the rule wastaken by the Punjab Revenue Depar tment.As per the amended rule, if the proper ty acquired by a woman is transferred in the name of a male relative within a year, thegovernment will take back the two per cent rebate given to the woman at the time of proper ty registration, he said. It may bementioned here that transfer of proper ty in blood relation is free in the state.

10 Delhi gurdwarasimplement food safetystandards for langarNEW DELHI, (IANS) Community kitch-ens (langars) in 10 major Delhigurdwaras have implemented the foodsafety and hygiene standards set byfood regulator FSSAI to make healthyfood accessible to everyone. Delhi'sgurdwaras operate on principles rootedin bringing people together and advo-cating for health through nutritional foodby closing the gap on hunger every day,said Manjit Singh G.K., President, DelhiSikh Gurdwara Management Commit-tee (DSGMC), on Sunday. He saidDSGMC had cleared the stringent tar-gets set by the Health Ministry underFood Safety and Standards Authority ofIndia (FSSAI) project BHOG (Blissfuland Hygienic Offering to God) to ensurethat visiting devotees were servedsafe, hygienic and nutritious langarat all historic Gurudwaras managedby it in the national capital.

12 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018i n d i a

AAM AADMI PARTY LEADER ALKA LAMBA AT CHIEF MINISTER'S RESIDENCE, IN NEW DELHI.

KEJRIWAL AN ACTOR, WRITESSCRIPT AND ACTS IN LEADROLE: MANOJ TIWARINEW DELHI, (IANS) Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari on Thurs-day described Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as an actor,who scripts a play and does the lead role and accused him ofacting as a "pawn for anti-national elements. Kejriwal is a bigactor. He writes the script, directs the play and himself plays thelead role," Tiwari told media here. Attacking the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader, the Bharatiya Janata Par ty leader said that afterbeing in power for over three and half years, suddenly he remem-bers that Delhi has not got full statehood."People of Delhi are suffering due to the acute water shortage,while he is sitting in an airconditioned room. He is just doingdrama," Tiwari said. The BJP leader also said that the AAP leaderhas written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to divert the atten-tion of the people from the real issues of power and water short-age. Tiwari's remarks came soon after Kejriwal urged Modi tointervene to end the "strike" by the IAS officers as there has beenno communication from the Lt Governor Anil Baijal's office.The sit-in protest at the Lt. Governor's office by Kejriwal, Kejriwaland his cabinet colleagues entered its four th day on Thursdaywhile the hunger strike by Health Minister Satyendar Jain enteredday two and that by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia com-pleted a day. Tiwari also said: "In 1993, there was a BJP governmentin Delhi while a Congress government was at the Centre. Similarly, in1998, there was a Congress government in Delhi and BJP governmentat the Centre. Then also both the governments worked for the develop-ment of the city. "But here in last three years of the AAP rule,the city has been pushed 10 years back."

Senior Kashmiri journalist ShujaatBukhari shot dead, politicians, mediacondemn killingSRINAGAR, (IANS) Senior journalist and Editor-in-Chief ofEnglish daily "Rising Kashmir" Shujat Bhukhari was onThursday shot dead by militants outside his office here,police said. State police chief S.P.Vaid said that it was around7.15 p.m., the Iftar time, that Bukhari came out of his officein Press Enclave and was boarding his car when he wasattacked by militants."Three motorcycle-borne militantscame and fired at Bukhari and his guards. Bukhari and oneguard were killed and another security guard critically in-jured," he said. The killing drew wide condemnation frompoliticians across India and media organisations. Jammuand Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said: "Shocked& deeply saddened by the sudden demise of ShujaatBukhari. The scourge of terror has reared its ugly head onthe eve of Eid. I strongly condemn this act of mindless vio-lence & pray for his soul to rest in peace. My deepestcondolences to his family."

KEJRIWAL ENDS STRIKE BUT SAYS WOULD NOT GOTO LG IF HAD POWERS LIKE SHEILA DIKSHIT

NEW DELHI, (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal onTuesday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he would not havegone to the Lt. Governors doorstep to get the IAS officers unde-clared strike called off had he wielded powers like his predecessorSheila Dikshit.In a letter to Modi, Kejriwal pointed out that the Bharatiya JanataPar ty (BJP), in the run up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, hadpromised full statehood to Delhi but instead it has divested theDelhi government of all powers to transfer, suspend or take anyaction against the erring officers and has crippled the state govern-ment."The citizens of Delhi believed you and voted for you en masse,giving you all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the state. But in returnyou did not leave Delhi with even 10 per cent of statehood. You giveus back the powers that Sheila Dikshit had as the Chief Minister ofDelhi (which you divested the Delhi government of through an orderin 2015) and we would not come to you to complaining about theIAS officers' strike. We ourselves would sor t that out. Today you

have all the powers and we (AAP government) have all the respon-sibilities. How will it work?" Kejriwal said in the letter.He claimed that his government did not have "even 10 per cent" ofthe powers that the previous Delhi governments had. Kejriwal, whoended his sit in at the Raj Niwas on Tuesday af ter nine days,alleged in the letter that the IAS officers' undeclared strike wasbeing stage managed from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO). "Themoment an IAS officer tries to do good work, either you get himtransferred or implicate him in false cases.All the officers in Delhi administration are scared of you. Your aimis to scuttle the work of the AAP's Delhi government," he claimed.He said that "nobody in the world would believe" that the LtGovernor was persistently denying to meet the elected representa-tives on his own and that "everybody believes" it was being done atthe Centre's behest. Terming it tragic that a Prime Minister was"himself obstructing" the development of a region of his owncountry, he said: "We again request you that let us work for thesake of people of Delhi."

MidWeek 13MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 i n d i a

BJP CLAIMS 13 SEATS OUT OF 27 INRAJASTHAN LOCAL BODY BY-ELECTIONS

BJP WORKERS LED BY MANOJ TIWARI DEMONSTRATED OUTSIDE CHIEF MINISTER ARVIND KEJRIWAL'S OFFICE IN NEW DELHI.

JAIPUR, (IANS) Rajasthan's ruling BJP on Thursday captured 13 seatsout of 27 in local body by-elections held recently in 17 districts of thestate. The by-elections were held for one zila parishad seat, 17 seatsof panchayat samitis and 9 seats of nagar palika/parishad. The BJPnabbed 11 seats of panchayat samitis and two seats of nagar palika.On the other hand, Congress managed to win 11 seat, while indepen-dent candidates claimed one panchayat samiti and one nagar palikaseat. BJP state General Secretary Bhajan Lal Sharma told IANS thatthis comes as a proud moment when BJP's vote share as well asseats have gone higher in these elections. However, state CongressPresident Sachin Pilot expressed his happiness on the fact that urban

voters in these elections have voted for Congress, saying his par tyclaimed five seats in urban units while BJP could capture only twowhicj proves that city youth and women have rejected the govern-ment owing to its "anti-people" policies.Congress' state Vice President Archana Sharma said that this is anew trend shedding light on the changing mindset of voters in urbanRajasthan who are now preferring Congress over BJP. However, BJP'sSharma said that they should discuss the results of rural seats toowhere their share has declined and his par ty's share has gone up."Also, their claims of garnering more urban voters doesn't gain groundas our vote share has gone up," he added.

CONTD. FROM PAGE 3The AAP joint statement was issued by the party's Punjab co-president Balbir Singh, Majha zone president Kuldeep SinghDhaliwal and Malwa zone leaders Narinder Singh Sidhu, GurdittSingh Sekhon and Dalbir Singh Dhillon. It said the par ty believedtotally in the Constitution and did not suppor t any activity againstthe unity and the federal structure of the country. They said Khaira'sstatement could be his personal view and the par ty will seek aclarification from him. Facing a barrage of criticism, Khairaresponded to Punjab Chief Minister in a tweet, claiming thatAmarinder Singh had not got his facts right. "I am surprised aleader of your level is tweeting against me without checking hisfacts. I am not a votary of 2020 but I don't hesitate to point out aconsistent policy of discrimination against Sikhs by centralgovernments! Be it attack on Darbar Sahib, genocide of Sikhsleading to 2020," he tweeted. In a joint statement, other Congressleaders, including Ramanjit Singh Sikki, Harminder Singh Gill and HardevSingh Laddi, sought a clarification from Arvind Kejriwal on whether hesubscribed to Khaira's stand. "You must sack Khaira from the party and ifyou do not do that it will amount to your consent and concurrence to theanti-national designs of Khaira," they said. Akali Dal leader Bikram SinghMajithia termed Khaira's statement a "proof of the divisive politics playedby the AAP." BJP leader Manoranjan Kalia accused Mr Khaira of"doublespeak" by simultaneously supporting the referendum and owingallegiance to the Constitution. "Declaring support for referendum 2020 byKhaira establishes his links with secessionists supporting Khalistan," theformer minister said. Union Minister and senior Akali Dal leader HarsimratKaur Badal also demanded that AAP should sack its Punjab MLA SukhpalSingh Khaira. She accused the Delhi Chief Minister of "tacit support" toKhaira by maintaining silence on the issue. She said: "On one side he(Kejriwal) is siting on dharna asking for independent statehood ofDelhi, on the other side his own MLA and the leader of oppositionof AAP in Punjab is talking about suppor ting Refrendum 2020which is about 'separating Punjab from India."

AKALI, BJP, CONGRESS WANT ACTIONAGAINST KHAIRA ON KHALISTAN

COMMENT: AAP AGREES

Is Sukshpal's political career over?

NEW DELHI, (IANS) India and Australia have agreed to furtherstrengthen counter-terrorism cooperation, including cross-bor-der terrorism, through exchange of information and capacity-building effor ts, the External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.According to a statement issued following the 10th Meeting ofthe Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism held here on Mon-day, "both sides assessed and exchanged views on prevailingterrorist threats in their respective regions including the prob-lem of cross-border terrorism" in the Afghanistan-Pakistan re-gion. It said the two countries discussed contemporary counter-terrorism challenges such as radicalisation and violent extrem-ism, use of internet for terror purposes, and foreign terroristfighters and also ways to combat financing of terrorism.

India, Australia to strengthencounter-terrorism cooperation

cratic Par ty (PDP) and came days af ter the central government de-cided not to extend the Ramadan ceasefire, made another round ofGovernor's Rule imminent in the state where no political group oralliance won enough seats in the December 2014 elections to form agovernment on its own.

Sr inagar/New Delhi , June 19(IANS) Jammu and Kashmir waspushed into a major political cri-sis on Tuesday after the BJP sud-denly pulled out of the ruling com-bine with the PDP, bringing downChief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's27-month-old government amidsurging violence in the state.The decision, which surprisedthe Mufti-led Peoples DemocraticPar ty (PDP) and came days af terthe central government decidednot to extend the Ramadanceasefire, made another round ofGovernor's Rule imminent in thestate where no political group oralliance won enough seats in theDecember 2014 elections to forma government on its own.Mehbooba Mufti stepped down asthe Chief Minister immediately afterBJP announced its decision in a tele-vised news conference. She made itclear that the PDP wasn't inter-ested in forming an alliance withthe National Conference or theCongress for a new government.

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir was pushedinto a major political crisis on Tuesday af ter the BJP suddenly pulledout of the ruling combine with the PDP, bringing down Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti's 27-month-old government amid surging violencein the state. The decision, which surprised the Mufti-led Peoples Demo-

Kashmir in political crisis as BJP-PDP government falls

14 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018w o r l d

3 KILLED IN LONDON TRAIN ACCIDENT

PEOPLE PROTEST AT THE CHINESE CONSULATE IN MAKATI CITY. THEY WERE ASKING PRESIDENT DUTERTE TO END CHINA'SINCURSIONS IN WEST PHILIPPINE SEA.

LONDON, (IANS) Three people died on Monday after beingstruck by a train near Loughborough junction in south London,the British Transpor t Police (BTP) said. Officers were called tothe station at 7.30am af ter receiving repor ts of multiple bodiesbeing found, the Independent repor ted. London AmbulanceService paramedics said the three people were pronounced

dead at the scene. The deaths are being treated as "unex-plained" and police said inquiries were being carried out toestablish how they came on the tracks. Detective Superinten-dent Gary Richardson from the BTP said: "My team are nowworking hard to understand what happened and how these threepeople came to lose their life on the railway."

16 killed as Afghan Taliban launch attacks after ceasefireKABUL, (IANS) At least 16 people were killed on Monday as the Afghan Taliban resumed attacks after refusing to extend a three-dayceasefire that ended on Sunday night, police said. Taliban militants launched early morning attacks on security checkpoints inGhormach, Qaisar, Pashtunkot and Shirin Tagab districts in the Faryab province, a police officer was quoted as saying byXinhua news agency.Afghanistan's Defence Ministry spokesperson Muhammad Radmanish said that even though the government decided onSunday to extend the ceasefire by another 10 days, the "Taliban violated the ceasefire and launched attacks." Twelve Armypersonnel were "mar tyred" since the Taliban began their attacks, Radmanish said. Two policemen were also killed, InteriorMinistry spokesperson Najib Danish told Efe news.The governor of Ghani-Khil district in Nangarhar and his bodyguard were shot dead in a morning ambush in which a civilianwas wounded, another police official said. The government had announced a ceasefire from June 12 to June 19 to encouragethe Taliban to suppor t the national reconciliation process. Reciprocating the step, the armed group announced truce fromFriday to the end of Sunday. On Sunday, an Afghan Security Council meeting chaired by President Ashraf Ghani extended theceasefire for another 10 days. However, the Taliban refused to extend the truce and instead in an online statement asked its fighters toresume fighting against Afghan and foreign forces stationed in Afghanistan.

1 KILLED AS VAN HITS FANSAT DUTCH MUSIC FESTIVALTHE HAGUE, (IANS) A van ploughed into a group of peopleattending a Dutch music festival, killing one of them on Monday.Police detained a suspect hours later. The pre-dawn crash tookplace near a camping site close to the famous Pinkpop festival in thesoutheastern municipality of Landgraaf in the Dutch province of Limburg,the BBC reported. The 35-year-old man who died in the incident was afestival volunteer, organisers said. Three other people were criticallyinjured in the incident, hours after the three-day Pinkpop festival ended.Later, police arrested a 34-year-old man from Amsterdam on suspicionof manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. The van had been drivenaway from the scene prompting a search across the border into Belgiumand Germany. It was several hours before police said they had found thevehicle abandoned on the street where the collision had happened.

Israel targets Hamas positionsafter Gaza shellingJERUSALEM, (IANS) The Israeli Air Force on Monday attackednine Hamas posts in the Gaza Strip after three projectileswere launched from the enclave, the military said. The Army'stargets were two military camps and one ammunition factory, reportsEfe news. It said the attacks were in response to burning balloons andkites that were launched at Israel in the last few weeks. No injuries wererepor ted on either side. On Sunday the Israeli Army fired at targets inGaza three times to prevent the launch of explosive balloons and kitesthat caused fires in 20 different Israeli locations in fields ad-jacent to the Strip over the weekend.

DESK REPORTISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) par ty workers haveprotested against chairman Imran Khan to oppose his decision ofawarding tickets for the upcoming general elections on July 25.Workers, who had gathered outside his Bani Gala residence,said Khan has "unfairly award par ty tickets." But when mediaasked Khan, he sa id the decision was made by parliamentary mem-bers on the basis of merit. He said: "If I change my decision today becauseof you, tomorrow more people will come here… I am not saying thisbecause of me or my honesty.. I am saying this because I fear Allah." Buthe said he is looking into the matter and have faith in him as hewill review each case and get back to them soon. However, the workerswere not satisfied with his reply and tried to get inside Khan's house whenpolice was called in who disperse them. Later Khan came outside andthanked the workers for their "commitment and passion." On the otherhand PTI leader Ayesha Gulalai's nomination papers from Islamabad'sNA-53 constituency have been challenged by Makhdoom Niaz. Gulalaiis contesting against him from this constituency besides chair-man Imran Khan and former PML (N) Prime Minister ShahidKhaqan Abbasi. He said Gulalai is neither Sadiq nor Ameen.

ANGRY PTI WORKERS PROTEST OVER UNFAIRAWARD OF TICKETS; AYESHA GULALAI'S

NOMINATION PAPERS CHALLENGED

MidWeek 15MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 w o r l d

PAKISTAN PEOPLES PARTY (PPP) CHAIRMAN BILAWAL BHUTTO ZARDARI SUBMITTED HIS NOMINATION FORM FOR NA-200LARKANA-1 TO RETURNING OFFICER.

PAKISTAN BACKS UN CALL FOR INVESTIGATINGHUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN J&K

ExpiresJUNE 2018

ISLAMABAD, (IANS) Pakistan on Thursday suppor ted a call by the UNHigh Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate alleged viola-tions in Jammu and Kashmir. The first-ever repor t issued by the UNon human rights in Jammu and Kashmir sought a probe to "resolvepast and current violations" in the disputed territory, which has wit-nessed a seven-decade long conflict between India and Pakistan."Pakistan welcomes the proposal by the UN High Commissioner forHuman Rights to establish a commission of inquiry for internationalinvestigation into human rights violations in the Indian occupiedJammu and Kashmir (IoK)," the county's Foreign Affairs Ministry saidin a statement. The statement added that the UN proposal was "simi-lar to Pakistan's appeals for probing alleged human rights violationsin the disputed region, calling it a 'legitimate' demand which has been

ignored by New Delhi".India outrightly rejected the repor t as "fallacious, tendentious andmotivated" and an attack on its sovereignty. The UN report focussedmainly on alleged serious violations committed in Jammu and Kash-mir from July 2016 to April 2018. Activists estimated that up to 145civilians were killed by security forces and up to 20 civilians killed byarmed groups in the same period, it said.The document also refer red to "lack of political liber ty and freedom ofexpression in Pakistan-administered regions of Azad Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan. References to human rights concerns in Azad Jammuand Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan should in no way be construed tocreate a false sense of equivalence with the gross and systematichuman rights violations in IoK," Pakistan said.

PAKISTAN SIKH ACTIVIST'S 'MURDERER' ARRESTEDPESHAWAR, (IANS) The alleged murderer of Sikh rights activist and inter-faith harmony advocate Charanjit Singh was arrested byPeshawar regions Counter Ter rorism Depar tment (CTD) on Thursday. Singh was shot dead in Peshawar on May 29 by bike-borneassailants while he was on his way home from his shop. He had shifted to the city with his family nearly 20 years ago and was a highly respectedfigure in the region. He was known for promoting religious harmony and discouraging violence. According to a statement by the CTD, an operation wasconducted in the Ghalla Mandi area of Peshawar and the alleged target killer, identified as Sheheryar Sultan, was arrested, the Express Tribune reported. Aninvestigation officer told the daily that the activist "was killed for failing to pay extor tion. The suspect is par t of a criminal group involved inextortion," the officer said, adding that they also found evidence of Singh previously paying extor tion money. The CTD said that theaccused also named some accomplices during the investigation, for whose arrest a separate team was formed, Dawn online repor ted.

Pakistan SC bars Musharraffrom contesting electionLAHORE, (IANS) Pakistan's Supreme Cour t withdrew aconditional permission earlier granted to former PresidentPervez Musharraf to contest the upcoming general electionafter his counsel informed that the former military chief wasunable to return to the country on Thursday. A four-memberbench of the apex cour t heard the case per taining toMusharraf's return. He requested more time to return to thecountry, however, the cour t refused to enter tain his requestsafter granting a day-long extension in the June 13 deadline,Geo News repor ted. "Musharraf wants to return to the countrybut cannot owing to the current situation and Eid-ul-Fitrholidays," his counsel told the bench during the hearing of acase filed by the former President in 2015 against the rejectionof his nomination papers in the 2013 general election.In response, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar said that "we'lladjourn the cour t hearing till indefinite time period, will hold iton your wish." The Secretary-General of Musharraf's AllPakistan Muslim League (APML) said that the former Armychief's legal team will be applying for an extension. "We willrequest them to set a date af ter Eid-ul-Fitr. If they agree,Musharraf will return," Mohammad Amjad Chaudhry told TheExpress Tribune. Earlier, the cour t assured Musharraf'scounsel that the former President would not be arrested uponappearance. It also allowed the returning officers to receivehis nomination papers for the upcoming election. However, ithad said acceptance of his nomination papers would be subjectto the final decision in the present case.

18 killed, 49 injured inAfghanistan suicide attackKABUL, (IANS) At least 18 people were killed and another 49injured on Sunday in a suicide attack in the hear t of Jalalabad,the capital of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan, asecurity source said. Confirming the attack, which took placeon the last day of the ceasefire declared by the Taliban markingthe end of the holy month of Ramadan, Nangarhar ProvincialGovernor's spokesperson Attaullah Khogyani told Efe that ithappened around 3pm.While the source said the attack happened near the Governor'sPalace, or the Shahi Palace, where civil servants and Talibaninsurgents were meeting to discuss the ceasefire, Khogyanisaid that the attack was an at area where there were onlycivilians. Images captured by an Epa-Efe photojournalist atthe scene showed security officials standing on a bloodiedroad outside the governor's offices.Damaged cars were also visible.Another suicide attack, whichwas claimed by the Islamic State terror organization, tookplace a day before at a place where Taliban militants and civilianshad gathered to celebrate the ceasefire, around 15 km fromJalalabad. That attack killed 25 people and wounded 54 others.

16 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

Neeraj Sood on facing failure for five years

BELGIUM REGISTERED A 3-0 VICTORY AGAINST PANAMA AT FIFA WORLD CUP 2018.

RANBIR KAPOOR IS A BRAT:KARISHMA TANNA

SALMAN KHAN'S LATEST EID OFFERING, RACE 3, WAS WELL-RECEIVED WITH ALMOST IRS 30 CRORE ON ITS FIRST DAY AT THEBOX OFFICE. IT PIPPED BAAGHI 2, PADMAVAT, VEERE DI WEDDING AND PADMAN TO BECOME THE BIGGEST BOLLYWOODOPENER OF 2018. ALTHOUGH RACE 3 EARNINGS TOOK A HIT DUE TO PRE-EID CELEBRATIONS, THE MOVIE DID WELL OVER THECOURSE OF THE WEEKEND AND INCHED TOWARDS THE IRS 100 CRORE CLUB.

Actress Karishma Tanna, who is gearing up for the release of hersecond Hindi film "Sanju", says her co-star Ranbir Kapoor is amazingto work with and is a complete brat. Asked how would she describeRanbir, Karishma told IANS here: "He is amazing, a thorough profes-sional and a brat. He's a lot of fun on the set. He has very goodhumour, talks well and a lovely guy to work with." "Sanju" is directedby Rajkumar Hirani and also stars Sonam Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal andAnushka Sharma. The film is slated to release on June 29.

Who wants to do Rekha's biopic?MUMBAI, (IANS) Actress Sheena Bajaj, who had featured in the film"Kalyug", says she is interested in doing a film based on veteranactress Rekha. "Rekha is an ethereal actress whohas aged beautifully and is still extremely charm-ing. "I always watch her movies on TV and myfavourite films are 'Silsila', 'Khubsoorat' and'Umrao Jaan'. I would love to play her someday," Sheenasaid in a statement. She is currently playing the role ofMeher Khan in the show "Mar iam Khan - ReportingLive", which is aired on Star Plus. It also features actorsKhalid Siddiqui and Rukhsar Rehman. WhileSheena is yet to take up another f i lm,Rukhsar will feature in the movie "Uri" anda Rishi Kapoor-starrer.

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actor Neeraj Sood, who has featured in movies like"Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" and "Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year",says he faced failure for long years but didn't give up. "There was atime when my father had no money to pay for my acting school but myonly focus in life was to be an actor. So, I decided to take up a coursein National School of Drama (NSD) where half of my fees would befunded but for that I had to clear my entrance examinations whichwere really tough," Neeraj said in a statement. "I failed the entrancefive times for five consecutive years but I did not give up and I passedthe sixth time. I think this was the biggest crossroad in my life and Iam glad that I am here now," he added.

REPLACING MR BACHCHAN AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM: ANIL KAPOOR

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actor Anil Kapoor says megastar AmitabhBachchan is one of a kind and replacing him is an impossibledream. Praising Anil, Salman had said in an interview: "I think ifthere is any replacement to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, then it is AnilKapoor." Thanking him, Anil tweeted on Thursday: "Thank you SalmanKhan, for your generosity! Replacing Mr Bachchan is an impossibledream. He is the only one of his kind. But I'm really honoured andhumbled that you took my name in the same breath as him."

IS SHILPA SHETTY PREGNANT?As a photograph of Shilpa Shetty Kundra walking out of aclinic went viral with curious minds trying to guess if shewas pregnant, the actress-entrepreneur-fitness enthusiasthas clarified that she is not expecting and that it was only ausual health checkup.

WOULD LOVE TO DO A FEMALESUPERHERO FILM: KAJOLMUMBAI, (PTI) Actor Kajol says it is high time India produced its ownfemale superhero films and she would like to headline one. Kajol,who has dubbed for the character of superhero Helen Parr aka Elastigirlfor the Hindi version of upcoming film, "Incredibles 2" that releaseson June 22, feels it will be cool to play such a character in Bollywoodfilm as she herself is a fan of the genre.When asked if it's high time the country had its own female super-hero, Kajol told PTI, "I do. I definitely think that it'll be too cool. I wouldlove to play a superhero. But the thing is, I don't know what would bemy superpower... There's just too much to choose from!" "Incredibles2" is sequel to the 2004 "The Incredibles" and is written and directedby Brad Bird, who also wrote and directed the first film.

Fifa 2018: Rafael Marquez makeshistory as Mexico pip defendingchampions Germany 1-0A resolute defensive display saw Mexico beat defending champions Ger-many 1-0 in their Group F matchon Sunday at the Luzhniki Sta-dium. Hirving Lozano was thehero for Mexico as he scoredthe winner. Germany had themajority of possession in thesecond half where they werechasing the game but Mexicandefenders stood like a rock andsuccessfully defended the slen-der lead. Lozano's strike hadhelped Mexico take a 1-0 leadover defending champions Ger-many at halftime. The first halfsaw a flur ry of chances fall for both Germany and Mexico. However, it wasLozano's perfectly taken shot that gave Mexico the lead in the 35th minute.Germany's Toni Kroos struck a fine free-kick that was brilliantly saved byMexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. The match saw the maximum num-ber of shots in this edition of World Cup so far. Germany enjoyed lion's shareof the possession throughout but it was the Mexicans who had the more bestchances of the half.

FOR AD BOOKINGS ON THESE CHANNELS CONTACT : 416-475-5000

18 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

FOR VVIP TICKETS AND SPONSORSHIPS

CALL YMEDIA GROUP - 416-475-5000

416.475.9200

MidWeek 19MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

Anupam Kher calls Narendra Modi 'rockstar'FIRST POSTERS OF YAMLA PAGLA DEEWANA PHIR SE PROMISE FUN AND FROLIC.

b o l l y w o o d

MUMBAI, (IANS) Veteran actor Anupam Kher called Prime MinisterNarendra Modi a "rockstar" after the latter posted his fitness video onsocial media. Modi recently took to Twitter to share his workout video,and wrote: "Here are moments from my morning exercises. Apar tfrom Yoga, I walk on a track inspired by the Panchtatvas or five ele-ments of nature - Prithvi (ear th), Jal (water), Agni (fire), Vayu (air),Aakash (sky).This is extremely refreshing and rejuvenating. I alsopractice breathing exercises. Hum fit toh India fit."Impressed by it, Anupam wrote: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi! Youare a rockstar. What an amazingly inspirational morning exercisevideo. Thank you for sharing it. Jai Ho." Modi shared a fitness videoafter he was nominated in an online fitness challenge by Indian CricketCaptain Virat Kohli. The Prime Minister nominated Karnataka ChiefMinister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Table Tennis player Manika Batra and

the entire fraternity of the Indian Police Service Officers (IPS) to takeon the challenge and post their fitness videos.

WE STAND BY PRIYANKA:VARUN, ALIA, POOJA ON'QUANTICO' CONTROVERSYMUMBAI, (PTI) Actor Varun Dhawan has defendedPriyanka Chopra, who faced a lot of flak in India for theplot of an episode in her American TV show "Quantico".Chopra, 35, took to Twitter recently to clear the air aroundthe episode, titled "The Blood of Romeo", which featured'Indian nationalists' planning to carry out a terrorist at-tack in Manhattan and frame Pakistan for it days before asummit on Kashmir.At a press conference of the International Indian FilmandAcademy (IIFA) here last night, Dhawan, Bobby Deol,Kriti Sanon and Ayushmann Khurrana were asked howmuch involvement actors have in their characters, inview of the "Quantico" controversy. Khurrana said, "Whenyou play a character, you have your own thought and thatcan't be right or wrong. You're following a script, a direc-tor and that's your first responsibility...There are all kindsof opinions, you will get backlash when you take oneside. You can't escape this."To this, Dhawan added, "To end it, Priyanka Chopra hasmade the entire country very proud and we stand by her.There's nothing else." Chopra, in her apology, had calledherself a "proud Indian" and said she was extremely sad-dened that sentiments were hur t. ABC also apologisedfor stepping into a "complex political issue" with the story,saying Priyanka was not to be blamed as she did nothave a creative control over the episode. Chopra, whobecame the first Indian actor to play a lead role in anAmerican TV series, por trays FBI agent Alex Parrish inthe show, which is cur rently in its third and final season.Earlier Pooja Bhatt backed Priyanka Chopra over theQuantico row, a day af ter she apologised for a recentcontroversial episode of her show.

Sanjay Dutt feels inspired byacid attack survivorsLUCKNOW, (IANS) Actor Sanjay Dutt says acid attacksurvivors are real-life heroes and an inspiration to all.Sanjay recently visited Sheroes Hangout cafe here afterreceiving an invite from the team through Twitter. Over-whelmed by the invitation, he made sure to spend somequality time with acid attack survivors who run the café."They are real-life heroes and these strong women arean inspiration to all of us. They have shown unwaveringstrength to fight and survive in the most difficult situa-tions," Sanjay said in a statement to IANS."It is truly an honour to be receiving the love and suppor tof such beautiful souls," he added. Sanjay is shooting forthe Hindi remake of the Telugu cul t c lassic"Prasthaanam" here. To be produced by Sanjay Dutt Pro-ductions, the film is being remade in Hindi by filmmakerDeva Katta, who also helmed the original. The shootingbegan on June 1 on Sanjay's mother and late actressNargis' bir th anniversary. The film also stars SatyajeetDubey, Ali Fazal, Manisha Koirala and Amyra Dastur.

Art takes inspiration, makesa statement: Nimrat KaurMUMBAI, (IANS) Actress Nimrat Kaur says ar t - be it theper forming ar ts or the design industry - always takesinspiration from real life, to make a statement. The ac-tress of "The Lunchbox" fame was at the preview of dia-mond boutique Zoya's new collection Pezzo D'Ar te, amodern interpretation of classical Italian structures suchas the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Forum, the double helixstaircase at the Vatican, Florence's baptistery, Sienna'scathedral and the Pantheon."Ar t always needs an inspiration - whether it's the soci-ety or political system we are living in today, or just theway life is around us. Ar t takes a lot of inspiration aroundus, and makes a statement by observing from life - be itper forming ar ts or design," Nimrat told IANS via email.Having carved a distinct niche for herself, Nimrat has alsomade a mark internationally with her performances in Ameri-can TV series "Homeland" and "Wayward Pines". Her latestwork in India was the web series "The Test Case".

ZOYA AKHTAR'S FIRST PANIC ATTACKMUMBAI, (PTI) Director Zoya Akhtar has opened up about herfirst panic attack and how she sought help to overcome it.Zoya, the elder child of veteran screenwriter Javed Akhtarand filmmaker Honey Irani, wrote a lengthy post on Facebookfor Humans of Bombay, a group which shares stories fromthe everyday lives of the people of Mumbai."My biggest challenge was when I had my first panic attackat 27. It's not something you can ignore, you can't sit aroundand get sucked into a rabbit hole. I chose to get help immedi-ately. It took a while to work things out but I am fine now,"Zoya wrote. "You realize you have to become aware of yourinner monologue. The things you say to yourself. This raisedmy consciousness so it was vital to my growth, I would say,"she added. In the post, Zoya, the director of films such as"Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" and "Dil Dhadakne Do", talkedabout her family, including brother Farhan Akhtar, with whomshe shares a "great relationship"."Pieces of my life, no matter how scattered, are being

stitched together and reflect in my work. The biggest piece ismy family -- from watching films like The Godfather on ourdining room wall, to having a great relationship with my sibling.Or going on weekend trips with our cousins to the beach andeating all day it's been a crazy childhood; a 'bohemian one',"Zoya said.The 45-year-old director also revealed that her "love for the ar tsstar ted at home. The conversations my parents had about filmswere obviously more in depth than the average audience.Screenplay, per formances, lighting, shot-taking. And before youknow my brother and me were looking at films slightly differ-ently.""A work that really moved me was 'Star ry Nights' by Van Goghin MoMA, New York -- I had chills. I had a physical reaction tothe painting -- my hear t just flew out of my chest And I star tedcrying. I still don't know what it was -- but I just felt 'him'," shewrote. Zoya also said that her work reflects her life experiencesand that she cur rently awaits for her "one per fect film" to come.

PRITAM EXCITED TOREUNITE WITHSUNIDHI AFTER 'KAMLI'MUMBAI, ( IANS) ComposerPritam is excited about workingwith singer Sunidhi Chauhan fora show after their hit song "Kamli"from the 2013 film "Dhoom: 3".They will judge the music realityshow "Dil Hai Hindustani 2" alongwith rapper Badshah. "It is alwaysa pleasure to work with Sunidhisince we have done some reallygood work together in movies like'Dhoom: 3', 'Chocolate' and 'GaramMasala'. In fact, 'Dil Hai Hindustani 2' islike a reunion for us after our collabora-tion on 'Kamli'," Pritam said in a state-ment. "Coming on the set and dis-cussing work… it takes me backto our working days together.

20 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018b o l l y w o o d

hollywood

RACE 3 ACTORS JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ, ANIL KAPOOR, AND DAISY SHAH PARTICIPATED IN DUS KA DUM WHERE SALMANKHAN IS THE HOST.

I've become an old horse of film industry, says John AbrahamMUMBAI, (IANS) Actor-producer John Abraham, who has been appreciated for hisnew release "Parmanu - The Story of Pokhran", feels he has become an old horseof the film industry when it comes to taking praise and criticism in his stride. Johnspoke to the media at a success par ty for the film here on Tuesday along with directorAbhishek Sharma. The actor's career spans over 15 years and he has worked inalmost 45 movies in Bollywood. Talking about the industry, audience and media'schanging perception on the ups and downs in his career, John said: "See it's cyclical.If your one film does good, then people laud you for it and you get a bouquet of flowersfor it and if your film doesn't do well, then you also get brickbats for it. "So I think I havebecome an old horse in this industry. Now I understand what works for the film andwhat runs in the mind of people." Generally, films made on issues of national interestget noticed, and John's "Parmanu - The Story of Pokhran" is based on the nuclear testsconducted at Pokhran in 1998. Asked if he is expecting a National Award for his film, hesaid: "We hope we make it to the National Awards. I think it will be well deserved on thepar t of our director, Abhishek Sharma. "It's a good, commercial, enter taining andcontent-driven film but it's too early to talk about our chances of winning a NationalAward. "We are not over-confident people. We think we will deserve whatever the jurywill decide for our film but at the same time I think people loved the film and that isimpor tant for us." John and Akshay Kumar share a really close bond with each other. They have earlier worked in "Garam Masala", "DesiBoyz", "Housefull 2" and "Dishoom" together. But on this Independence Day, Akshay's "Gold" and John's "Satyamev Jayate" will clash witheach other. On this, John said: "Akshay is an actor in 'Gold' and I am an actor in 'Satyamev Jayate'. It's a producer's decision from both sides. It is aboutExcel Enter tainment and T-Series, so I have no say in that at all. As far as competing with Akshay is concerned, I want to make it clear thathe is my senior in the industry. "I love him and I have always wished the best for him and I am sure he also wants best for me."

Rihanna caught on camerastealing a wine glassLONDON, (IANS) Singer Rihanna was left red-faced on arecent taping of "The Graham Nor ton Show" when thehost shamed her for stealing wine glasses from poshevents. Norton posted a series of images of the "Umbrella" singerleaving parties and clutching glasses and goblets as the star gigglednervously, saying at least one of the items was returned to "the hotelI took it from", reports aceshowbiz.com. Norton warned Rihanna'sfellow guests and her "Ocean's 8" castmates to watch out for theR&B star's real-life "criminal" behaviour. "My mom is gonnasee this," the horrified singer, who plays a computer hackerin the new all-female heist movie, said in the show.

New twist in Brad Pitt, Angelinachildren's custody caseLOS ANGELES, (IANS) The custody battle between es-tranged couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie just heatedup, with a judge ordering new restrictions for Jolie's in-volvement in Pitts interaction with their six children. Ac-cording to court documents obtained by people.com, Joliecould be in danger of losing primary custody of the chil-dren if she doesn't take steps to improve their relation-ship with their father.A judge in the estranged couple's ongoing divorce casesaid in the documents that "it is critical that each of (thesix) children have a healthy and strong relationship withtheir father and mother" and that Jolie must allow Pitt tomaintain that. Family law attorney David Glass, who isnot associated with the case, told people.com that it "isextremely rare" to see a cour t intervene in this way thoughthey typically do so after extensive evaluation and to pre-vent children from being alienated from one parent. "It looks like what this judge was weighing was thedifference between estrangement and alienation," saidGlass, who has not had access to the cour t documents."The difference there is, estrangement is when chil-dren aren't connected to one of the parents, mainlybecause of something that parent did. So a hypotheti-cal, if dad screams and yells at the kids and doesn'ttreat them nicely, the kids stop wanting to see dad,that's estrangement. An alienation refers to where chil-dren have been told by the other parent that the parentthey're not seeing is bad, or doesn't l ike them, ordoesn't care about them. "Just talking badly about theother parent and the kids start to internalize what the otherparent is telling them.

MidWeek 21MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018

10songsAE WATAN RAAZI

MUNDIYAN BAAGHI 2

BACHCHE KI JAAN 102 NOT OUT

TERE THUMKE SAPNA CHOUDHARY NANU KI JAANU

DILBARO RAAZI

O SAATHI BAAGHI 2

VEERE VEERE DI WEDDING

BEWAFA BEAUTY BLACK MAIL

TERI ZAAT ZARA OMERTA

top

SONG

MIDWEEK HIT OR FLOPRACE 3 100 CR

VEERE DI WEDDING 65 CR

PARMANU 35 CR

KAALA 30 CR

BHAVESH JOSHI SUPERHERO 6.2 CR

MIDWEEK BOX OFFICERACE 3 BLOCKBUSTER

KAALA HIT

VEERE DI WEDDING HIT

BHAVESH JOSHI SUPERHERO AVERAGE

PARMANU HIT

FILM

TAREEFANVEERE DIWEDDING

1

b o l l y w o o d

WHAT MATTERS IS BEING A GOOD HUMANBEING: VARUN DHAWAN

SALMAN KHAN AND JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ IN HEERIYE SONG FROM MOVIE RACE 3.

KIARA ADVANI AND KARAN JOHAR AT THE SPECIAL SCREENING OF NETFLIX'S LUST STORIES IN MUMBAI.

'Bhavesh Joshi…' actor to playdrug peddler in British filmNEW DELHI, (IANS) Actor Ashish Verma, who has beenreceiving rave reviews for his role in "Bhavesh JoshiSuperhero", will play a drug peddler who carries a spe-cific type of drug that can make people see the future, ina British film titled "Imperial Blue". It is not the lead rolebut an impor tant one. "I am playing Sanjay, a drug ped-dler, who car ries the drug, which makes one see thefuture.As far as playing the protagonist is concerned, everyactor would love to play the protagonist and with chang-ing time, you see a lot of films which no longer sub-scribe to the typical notion of a 'hero', 'Bhavesh Joshi…'being one of them," Ashish told IANS in an email inter-view. Indians are generally stereotyped in the West. Howis his role in "Imperial Blue" going to break that? "When you are a minority or are different from others,you are of ten seen in a specific way. This is applicableat a macro as well as a micro level and this leads tostereotyping," he said. "As far as my role is concerned,my character is an Indian, in India. Me and the directorDan (Moss) were on the same page as far as the pitch-ing was concerned. It was to keep it as real as possibleand not to cater to a perception or an 'idea' of an Indian,"added the actor, best known for featuring in the digitalproject "InMates".The casting of "Imperial Blue" happened in India. "The'Imperial Blue' casting process was very interesting.During the audition, me and my co-actor played the scenein many languages…in English, the way it was writtenand in our native languages, mine being Hindi and hisbeing Swedish," he said. Ashish has also worked as acasting director.

Children need to be given theirchildhood: Actress Divya DuttaMUMBAI, (IANS) Actress Divya Dutta believes childrenshould be given their childhood away from the stressand pressures of daily life. The actress, along with film-make r Amo le Gup te , a t t ended a pane l d i scuss ionorganised by Unicef and CRY Foundation, which worksfor the rights of children. Divya said: "Children need tobe given their childhood. Even if they are on a set (of filmshooting and television reality shows), we should makesure no compromise is done with their education, sleepand recreation. So, measures should be taken by all of us."Let's not take away their bachpan (childhood). A beautiful bal-ance is the mantra." She suggested the presence of counsel-lors on the sets to keep children in check. The panel also raisedissues like child ar tistes' mental health during stressfultimes like competing on reality shows.

MUMBAI, (IANS) Actor Varun Dhawan says being considered the bestactor at an awards event is not what matters to him the most as hefeels it is more significant to be considered a good human being.Varun's last Bollywood outing "October" was much appreciated by theaudience and critics alike.At an event ahead of the forthcoming International Indian Film Acad-emy (IIFA) celebrations in Bangkok, Varun was asked about the per -ception in the film industry that until or unless you do a serious role,

you are not considered wor thy of a 'best actor' tag, especially in theaward race. He said: "Honestly, I don't think that even if I win anaward, people will consider me the best actor. It doesn't really matterto me that I am considered the best actor."What really matters to me is that people consider me as a goodhuman being, because at the end of the day, that is the connect youhave with the audience. As an actor, I try my best, and if it happens, ithappens. I did a film called 'October' from my hear t and I got the mostcritical acclaim that I ever got in my life. So I am doing my best tobalance it." The IIFA Weekend and Awards is set to take place laterthis month. It will see an array of stars from the Indian film fraternityenthrall overseas fans with their per formances. Varun is fully gearedto leave the audience in awe."I am definitely dancing. And this time, for the act we have involved alot of technology in it. We all are per forming in a theatre in Bangkok,so as per the set-up, there will be a lot of aerial acts. I will be havinga grand entry, that too on a boat," he said. Actors Kar tik Aaryan andAyushmann Khurrana will host IIFA Rocks 2018, and the main awardsevent will be hosted by Karan Johar and Riteish Deshmukh. Actorslike Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor,Arjun Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Kriti Sanon and Iulia Vantur, Rekha willalso per form on the stage.

One gets enriched working with big stars: Freddy DaruwalaMUMBAI, (PTI) Freddy Daruwala, who will be seen in Salman Khan's "Race 3",says working with superstars is a "win-win situation" as one not only grows as anactor but also gets a chance to reach out to a wider audience. "It's a huge advan-tage to be working with superstars as the film will reach out to a wider audienceand people will come and discover me as well in the film," he says."When you work with a superstar you gain a lot of experience, their overview onhow films should be projected, presented and positioned. As a newcomer it is awin-win situation," he told PTI. Daruwala says he is not someone who will in-stantly say yes to a film that features a top star in the lead, but he gives a thoughtbefore signing on the dotted line. "...You have to give it a thought but you realisethat this film is a golden oppor tunity because as actors you work for two things -fame and money. In the beginning, you'd rather be choosing career over makingmoney. It's being said that 'you should be seen with the right kind of people at theright time'." Daruwala, who played an anti-hero in Akshay Kumar-starrer "Holi-day", will yet again enact the role of a villain in "Race 3", that releases tomorrow.He says people offer him roles of a villain and he thinks it has become his strongpoint. "I have proven myself as a villain in Hindi cinema, so might as well capit-alise on it. I am more than happy. It is the outcome of my hard work. I am notwor ried about being typecast as I am too young in the film industry," he says.

HALES, BAIRSTOW TONS TAKE ENGLAND TOWORLD RECORD ODI TOTAL OF 481/6

LIVELY MUSIC AND DANCE PERFORMANCE BY UK POP STAR ROBBIE WILLIAMS LIT UP THE FIFA 2018 OPENING CEREMONY IN MOSCOW.

MEXICAN PLAYERS CELEBRATE VICTORY AT FIFA WORLD CUP GROUP F FOOTBALL MATCH AGAINST DEFENDING CHAMPIONS GERMANYAT THE LUZHNIKI STADIUM IN MOSCOW.

FIFA 2018: BELGIUM RIDELUKAKU BRACE TO BLANKPANAMA 3-0SOCHI, (IANS) Belgium rode a second half brace fromRomelu Lukaku to blank Panama 3-0 in their Group Gopener of FIFA 2018 World Cup here on Monday. StrikerLukaku scored in the 69th and 75th minute to ensure thevictory a fter wide midfielder Dries Mertens drew first blood in the47th minute. The result means Belgium now have three points fromone game while Panama are still to open their account. Belgiumtake on Tunisia next while Panama face England.

SWEDEN PIP S. KOREA 1-0IN GROUP F CLASHNIZHNY NOVGOROD (RUSSIA), (IANS) Sweden kicked offtheir FIFA 2018 World Cup campaign on a winning note asthey pipped South Korea 1-0 in a Group F showdown at theNovgorod stadium here on Monday. It was Sweden captainAndreas Granqvist's 65th-minute penalty conversion whichcreated the difference between the two sides.Granqvist took a penalty following a video review and slot-ted the ball into the bottom right corner, with the goalkeeperdiving the other way. This was South Korea's first loss intheir World Cup opener since 1998, reports Yonhap newsagency. South Korea put on some early pressure beforeSweden turned the tide in their favour.For all their superior possession numbers early, SouthKorea made just one shot attempt, and none on target, in the first half,while Sweden had eight attempts, with two on target. South Korea hada 4-3-3 formation to star t the match, with a couple of surprises. In goal,Jo Hyeon-woo made his World Cup debut over supposed starter KimSeung-gyu. Kim Shin-wook, the tallest South Korean player at 197centimetres, also got the nod as a starting forward up front, though hehad been seen as a possible option off the bench. He wasflanked by Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan.

Indian hockey squad to leavefor Champions TrophyBENGALURU, (IANS) India's hockey squad will leave inthe wee hours of Tuesday for the Rabobank Mens Hockey Cham-pions Trophy, to be held in Breda, the Netherlands from Saturday.Led by India's veteran goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, the team isupbeat and confident of a podium finish at the farewell edition ofthe prestigious tournament.Ahead of the team's departure from the Kempegowda Interna-tional Airport here at 1.45 am, Sreejesh said in a release: "It is thefinal edition of Champions Trophy and I am sure every teamwould want to make it memorable. "It will be a challenging tour-nament with back-to-back matches and winning those three pointsfrom each game will be the only thing on our minds when wearrive in Breda." With hosts the Netherlands, Argentina, Paki-stan, Belgium and defending champions Australia in the fray, thetournament serves as a litmus test for India ahead of the World Cuplater in the year. "Though right now, our immediate goal is to do well inthis tournament, there is no doubt the Champions Trophy will be areality check for us to see where we stand among other top teamsespecially ahead of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar where we want todo well as host nation," stated Sreejesh. The Indian team, whichhad won a historic silver medal in the previous edition in Londonin 2016, will begin their campaign against arch rivals Pakistan."For the Indian team, the match against Pakistan is just anothergame where we will be looking to win those three points.

AUSTRALIA SLIP TO 34-YEARLOW IN ICC ODI RANKINGSMELBOURNE: Australia slipped to a 34-year low, droppingto the sixth position on the International Cricket Council's(ICC) latest One-Day International (ODI) rankings table af-ter losing the opening two fixtures of the ongoing five-matchrubber against England. The Kangaroos will need to win atleast one of the three remaining games in the series toclimb back above Pakistan to fifth.

NOTTINGHAM, (IANS) England registered a world recordtotal of 481 for 6 against Australia in their third One-DayInternational (ODI) cricket match here on Tuesday. AlexHales (147 off 92) and opener Jonny Bairstow (139 off 92)plundered Australian bowlers all around the park asEngland bettered their previous world's highest total of444/3 set in 2016 against Pakistan.Jason Roy (82 off 61) and Eoin Morgan (67 off 30) alsocontributed handsomely to England's cause as the hostsput up a massive total that could seal the series for themin the third match, after wins in the first two matches inLondon and Cardiff. Put into bat, Bairstow and Roy gaveEngland a flying star t, putting up 159 for the opening

wicket in 19.3 overs. Roy ran himself out while running for asecond run in the third ball over of the 20th over which heplayed to the deep square leg. D'Arcy Shor t put in a throw intime to glovesman Tim Paine to catch Roy shor t of thecrease.Hales joined Bairstow in the middle and the duo added to thesolid foundation. The duo made every Australian bowlerstruggle as they shared a massive 151-run par tnership forthe second wicket and also notched up their respectivecenturies in quick time. Bairstow brought his six ODI ton offa delivery from Shor t as the England opener slammed amassive hit into the stands in the 26th over. The duo went onto take Eangland past the 300-run mark in just 33.2 overs.

WOAKES OUT OF INDIA T20IS, STOKES LIKELY TO RETURNLONDON (IANS) The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Monday announced that all-rounders Chris Woakes and Ben Stokeswill take no par t in the limited-overs series against Australia but indicated that the latter could return in next month's T20 series withIndia. Woakes sustained a tear in his right quad during the second Test against Pakistan in Leeds, but an ECB statement suggested itwas caused in par t by "a flare-up of a chronic right knee problem." "Woakes has had an injection for the knee issue last Monday andwill now under take a rehabilitation and conditioning programme to address both injuries. A date for return cannot be specified at thisstage, but he will not be available before the ODI series against India," the statement read.

MidWeek 23MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2012

MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018 s p o r t s

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20Portugal vs. Morocco - 8 a.m.

Uruguay vs. Saudi Arabia - 11 a.m.Iran vs. Spain - 2 p.m.THURSDAY, JUNE 21

Denmark vs. Australia - 8 a.m.France vs. Peru - 11 a.m.

Argentina vs. Croatia - 2 p.m.FRIDAY, JUNE 22

Brazil vs. Costa Rica - 8 a.m.Nigeria vs. Iceland - 11 a.m.

Serbia vs. Switzerland - 2 p.m.SATURDAY, JUNE 23

Belgium vs. Tunisia - 8 a.m.South Korea vs. Mexico - 11 a.m.

Germany vs. Sweden - 2 p.m.SUNDAY, JUNE 24

England vs. Panama - 8 a.m.Japan vs. Senegal - 11 a.m.

Poland vs. Colombia - 2 p.m.MONDAY, JUNE 25

Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt - 10 a.m.Uruguay vs. Russia - 10 a.m.

Iran vs. Portugal - 2 p.m.Spain vs. Morocco - 2 p.m.

TUESDAY, JUNE 26Australia vs. Peru - 10 a.m.

Denmark vs. France - 10 a.m.Nigeria vs. Argentina - 2 p.m.Iceland vs. Croatia - 2 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27South Korea vs. Germany - 10 a.m.

Mexico vs. Sweden - 10 a.m.Switzerland vs. Costa Rica - 2 p.m.

Serbia vs. Brazil - 2 p.m.THURSDAY, JUNE 28

Senegal vs. Colombia - 10 a.m.Japan vs. Poland - 10 a.m.

England vs. Belgium - 2 p.m.Panama vs. Tunisia - 2 p.m.

Round of 16SATURDAY, JUNE 30

TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.

SUNDAY, JULY 1TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.

MONDAY, JULY 2TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.

TUESDAY, JULY 3TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.

QUARTER-FINALSFRIDAY, JULY 6

TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.SATURDAY, JULY 7

TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.

SEMIFINALSTUESDAY, JULY 10

TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.WEDNESDAY, JULY 11TBD vs. TBD - 2 p.m.

3rd-placeSATURDAY, JULY 14

TBD vs. TBD - 10 a.m.

FINALSUNDAY, JULY 15

TBD vs. TBD - 11 a.m.

GROUP STAGE

FIFA World Cup starts with colourful ceremonyMOSCOW, (IANS) Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the FIFAWorld Cup open after a colour ful opening ceremony at the 81,000-seater Luzhniki Stadium here on Thursday. "The love of football unitesthe world in one team, independent of language or ideology," the Rus-sian president stated during his speech, as repor ted by Sputnik newsagency. Ar tistic performances from UK singer Robbie Williams andRussian operatic soprano Aida Garifullina were the highlights of theopening ceremony. Two-time FIFA World Cup champion Ronaldo ofBrazil and Sweden legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic also attended. FormerSpain captain Iker Casillas brought the trophy inside the ground.

RUSSIA OVERWHELM SAUDIS IN FIFA WORLD CUP OPENERMOSCOW, (IANS) Hosts Russia began their FIFA World Cup campaign in emphatic fashion, registering an easy 5-0 victory overminnows Saudi Arabia in a Group A game here on Thursday. Yuri Gazinskiy (12th minute), Denis Cheryshev (43rd, 90+1), ArtemDzyuba (71st) and Aleksandr Golovin (90+4) scored for the hosts.

MOROCCO TO BID FOR HOSTING 2030 WORLD CUPRABAT, (IANS) Af ter losing the 2026 World Cup bid, Morocco announced on Thursday that it will present a new bid to host the 2030edition. "Under high instructions from King Mohammed VI, Morocco will officially present its bid to the Fédération Internationale deFootball Association (FIFA) to host the 2030 World Cup," the Moroccan Youth and Spor ts Minister Rachid Talbi Alami told theMoroccan official news agency MAP, reports Xinhua news agency. Alami said the Moroccan government is committed to fullyimplement the projects presented as par t of its 2026 bid. This will be Morocco's sixth bid after 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2026editions of the World Cup. Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina have already confirmed they will present a joint bid for hosting the 2030World Cup. The United States, Canada and Mexico won their joint bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the 68th FIFA Congress heldin Moscow recently.

RUSSIAN DEPUTY PM WELCOMES DECISION TO HOLD 2026FIFA WC IN US, CANADA, MEXICOMOSCOW, (IANS) Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko praised the FIFA Congress decision to award the right to host the2026 FIFA World Cup to the US, Canada and Mexico, as it will be very difficult for one country to organise a tournament involving 48teams. The joint bid of the US, Canada and Mexico received 134 votes at the FIFA Congress held in Moscow recently, whileMorocco's bid got only 65, repor ts Tass news agency."It was a reasonable decision to grant the right to host a tournament involving that many teams to economically developed countriesthat have good potential," Mutko who is also Chairman of the Government Coordinating Board for the 2018 World Cup, said. "Oneshould take note that 48 teams will par ticipate in the World Cup, it is a great number, so now it will be very difficult for any countryto host this tournament alone. We made 64 bases ready for 32 teams, so imagine that the number will have to be doubled," he said."We should keep in mind what kind of countries they are. They are located on the same continent - in Nor th America - so it will beeasier for them to ar range everything. As for arranging capacity, economic and other facilities, the United States, Canada and Mexicodeserve to host the tournament," the Russian deputy prime minister concluded.

SRI LANKA SKIPPER CHANDIMAL CHARGED WITH BALL TAMPERINGGROS ISLET (SAINT LUCIA), (IANS) Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been charged with "changing the condition of the ball",by the International Cricket Council (ICC), during the second Test against West Indies here. The game's global governing bodyannounced the news on Sunday, saying more details would follow. "Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal has been charged for breaching Level 2.2.9of the ICC Code of Conduct. More details to follow in due course," the ICC said on its official Twitter account. Ar ticle 2.2.9 of the ICC's codeof conduct relates to changing the condition of the ball in breach of clause 41.3 of the ICC Standard Test Match, ODI and T20I playingconditions. It prohibits actions such as deliberately throwing the ball into the ground for the purpose of roughening it up, applying anyar tificial substance to the ball and applying any non-ar tificial substance for any purpose other than to polish the ball.

INDIA OVERWHELM TEST DEBUTANTS AFGHANISTANBENGALURU, (IANS) India took full advantage of Afghanistan's inexperience in red ball cricket, dismissing them twice on the secondday to romp home by an innings and 262 runs in the one-off Test at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday. India lived upto their billing as the No.1 ranked Test side, by riding on a collective team effort that saw them posting a commanding 474 intheir first innings before the bowlers joined the par ty to dismiss the rookie visitors twice in two consecutive sessions.After being bowled out for a paltry 109 in the first innings, the visitors were once again skittled out in a single session for 103in their second essay. Lef t-hander Hashmatullah Shahidi (36 not out) waged a lone battle, showing great resilience against adisciplined Indian bowling unit but failed to find suppor t from the other batsmen who still seem to be in the T20 mould. Lef t-armspinner Ravindra Jadeja (4/17) and pacer Umesh Yadav (3/26) were the wreckers-in-chief in the second innings as the duoexposed the inexperienced Afghan line-up not once but twice in the same day.Umesh star ted the onslaught in the second innings by ripping through the Afghan top order, which saw Mohammed Shahzad(13), Javed Ahmadi (3) and Mohammad Nabi (0) back in the hut with just 22 runs on the board. Umesh's fellow pacer IshantSharma then struck with the wicket of Rahmat Shah (4) before Jadeja joined the par ty with the wickets of skipper AsgharStanikzai (25), stumper Afsar Zazai (1) and Rashid Khan (12) in no time. Ishant then jolted the visitors again by breakingthrough the defences of Yamin Ahmadzai (1) as the Afghans star ted looking down the bar rel.Jadeja then came back to pack Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3) while last man Wafadar fell for a duck to offie Ravichandran Ashwin,giving India a handsome win within two days. Earlier, in the first innings, star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin led from thefront with four wickets to bowl Afghanistan out for a meagre 109, the lowest total at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Ashwin waswell suppor ted by Jadeja and Ishant, who picked up two wickets each to dismiss the visitors inside the second session.Earlier, No.1 ranked India rode on centuries from Shikhar Dhawan (107) and Murali Vijay (105) and fluent half centuries fromLokesh Rahul (51) and all-rounder Hardik Pandya (71) to post a commanding 474 in their first innings. India managed to add127 runs to their overnight total of 347/6 on the second morning, thanks to Pandya's third Test half century and coupled withsome cameos from the tailenders. For Afghanistan, pacer Yamin Ahmadzai was the pick of the bowlers with three wicketswhile fellow quick Wafadar and wrist spinner Rashid Khan chipped in with two wickets each.

YURI GAZINSKY OF RUSSIA CELEBRATES WITH TEAMMATES HIS GOAL AGAINST SAUDI ARABIA IN THE OPENER OF FIFA 2018.

SERBIA EDGE OUT COSTA RICA INGROUP E OPENER

CROATIA BEAT NIGERIA 2-0, GO TOP OFGROUP D

DENMARK BEAT PERU IN GROUP C TIE

PORTUGAL HOLDS TRAINING AFTER 3-3DRAW AGAINST SPAIN

FRANCE DOWN AUSTRALIA 2-1 INGROUP C

RONALDO DAZZLES, PORTUGAL DRAW3-3 AGAINST IMPRESSIVE SPAIN

IRAN PIP MOROCCO 1-0 IN GROUP B

FIFA 2018: UPDATES

24 MidWeek MIDWEEK NEWS WEEKLY

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2018